19 November 2014 - NewsDaily - Kids still a target for marketers of sugary drinks: report

The report, conducted by researchers at the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, said kids ages 6 to 11 years old viewed 39 percent fewer television ads for sugary drinks in 2013 than in 2010. Teens saw a 30 percent drop. The number of ads found on websites mostly visited by children also declined during the period, according to the report.

The report was based on Nielsen data on advertising exposure from 2013 and was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. 

But Yale researchers said that beverage companies continued to reach children and teens through sites like Facebook and Twitter as well as mobile apps, and much of that marketing promoted unhealthy products.

“They’re trying to talk about offering healthier choices and lower sugar products, and that’s really great,” said Jennifer Harris, the lead author of the report. “But if they keep marketing their high-sugar products to children and teens, they can’t say they are being a part of the solution.”