[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 91 (Thursday, May 12, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25060-25062]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-9576]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


Public Workshop: Marketing, Self-Regulation & Childhood Obesity

AGENCIES: Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission); Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Joint notice announcing public workshop and requesting public 
comment and participation.

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SUMMARY: The FTC and HHS are planning to host a public workshop, 
``Marketing, Self-Regulation & Childhood Obesity,'' to explore self-
regulatory marketing initiatives in the food and beverage industry that 
respond to concerns about childhood obesity.
    The event is open to the public and there is no fee for attendance. 
For admittance to the conference center, all attendees will be required 
to show a valid form of photo identification, such as a driver's 
license.
    The FTC will accept pre-registration for this workshop. Pre-
registration is not necessary to attend, but is encouraged so that we 
may better plan this event. To pre-register, please e-mail your name 
and affiliation to the e-mail box for the workshop, at 
[email protected]. When you pre-register, we collect your 
name, affiliation, and your e-mail address. This information will be 
used to estimate how many people will attend and better understand the 
likely audience for the workshop. We may use your e-mail address to 
contact you with information about the workshop. Under the Freedom of 
Information Act (FOIA) or other laws, we may be required to disclose 
the information you provide to outside organizations. For additional 
information, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, see 
the Commission's Privacy Policy at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm. 
The FTC Act and other laws the Commission administers permit the 
collection of this contact information to consider and use for the 
above purposes.
    Additional information about the workshop will be posted on the 
FTC's Web site at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/foodmarketingtokids/index.htm.

DATES: The workshop will be held on July 14 and 15, 2005 at the Federal 
Trade Commission's Satellite Building Conference Center located at 601 
New Jersey Avenue, NW., Washington, DC. Comments and requests to 
participate as a panelist in the workshop must be received on or before 
Thursday, June 9, 2005.
    Requests to Participate as a Panelist: Persons filing requests to 
participate as a panelist will be notified on or before Thursday, June 
23, 2005, if they have been selected. For further instructions, please 
see the ``Requests to Participate as a Panelist in the Workshop'' 
section below.
    Written and Electronic Comments: Any person may submit written or 
electronic comments on the topics to be discussed by the panelists. 
Such comments must be received on or before Thursday, June 9, 2005. For 
further instructions on submitting comments, please see the ADDRESSES 
section below. To read our policy on how we handle the information you 
submit, please visit http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.

ADDRESSES: Comments and requests to participate as a panelist in the 
workshop should refer to ``Food Marketing to Kids Workshop--Comment [or 
Request to Participate], Project No. P034519'' to facilitate the 
organization of comments and requests to participate. A comment or 
request to participate filed in paper form should include this 
reference both in the text and on the envelope, and should be mailed or 
delivered, with two complete copies, to the following address: Federal 
Trade Commission/Office of the Secretary, Room 159-H (Annex H), 600 
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580. Because paper mail in 
the Washington area and at the Agency is subject to delay, please 
consider submitting your comments in electronic form, as prescribed 
below. Comments and requests to participate containing confidential 
material, however, must be filed in paper form, must be clearly labeled 
``Confidential,'' and must comply with Commission Rule 4.9(c).\1\
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    \1\ The comment must be accompanied by an explicit request for 
confidential treatment, including the factual and legal basis for 
the request, and must identify the specific portions of the comment 
to be withheld from the public record. The request will be granted 
or denied by the Commission's General Counsel, consistent with 
applicable law and the public interest. See Commission Rule 4.9(c), 
16 CFR 4.9(c).
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    Comments filed in electronic form should be submitted by clicking 
on the following Web link: https://secure.commentworks.com/ftc-foodmarketingtokids and following the instructions on the Web-based 
form. To

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ensure that the Commission considers an electronic comment, you must 
file it on the Web-based form at the https://secure.commentworks.com/ftc-foodmarketingtokids Web link. You may also visit http://www.regulations.gov to read this request for public comment and may 
file an electronic comment through that Web site. The Commission will 
consider all comments that regulations.gov forwards to it.
    The FTC Act and other laws the Commission administers permit the 
collection of public comments to consider and use in this proceeding as 
appropriate. All timely and responsive public comments, whether filed 
in paper or electronic form, will be considered by the Commission, and 
will be available to the public on the FTC Web site, to the extent 
practicable, at http://www.ftc.gov. As a matter of discretion, the FTC 
makes every effort to remove home contact information for individuals 
from the public comments it receives before placing those comments on 
the FTC Web site. More information, including routine uses permitted by 
the Privacy Act, may be found in the FTC's privacy policy, at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Kelly, 202 326-3304 or 
Michelle Rusk, 202 326-3148, FTC, Bureau of Consumer Protection. The 
FTC staff contacts can be reached by mail at: Federal Trade Commission, 
601 New Jersey Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580. Jennifer Bishop, 202 
690-8384, HHS, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and 
Evaluation. The HHS staff contact can be reached by mail at: The U.S. 
Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Avenue, SW., 
Room 447-D, Washington, DC 20201.
    A detailed agenda and additional information on the workshop will 
be posted by Thursday, June 23, 2005 on the FTC's Web site at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/food marketingtokids/index.htm.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background and Workshop Goals

    Background: Recently increasing attention has been given to the 
importance of a balanced and nutritious diet and physical activity in 
childhood to ensure healthy growth and development and prevent chronic 
conditions and disease. Obesity in children has become one of the top 
public health issues in the United States. According to the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention, over the last three decades, rates of 
obesity have more than doubled for children ages 2 to 5 years and for 
adolescents 12 to 19 years and have tripled for children ages 6 to 11 
years. Approximately nine million children over age 6 are considered 
obese.\2\ With increasing obesity rates, the incidence of type 2 
diabetes and other long-term health problems is also rising.
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    \2\ Overweight and obesity are classified according to a 
measurement called the Body Mass Index (BMI). Among children and 
youth, obesity is defined by the IOM as those who have a BMI at or 
above the 95th percentile of the gender- and age-specific BMI charts 
developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 
2000. The term overweight is used by the CDC and others to refer to 
children and youth who meet the same criteria. In most children, 
such BMI values indicate levels of body fat associated with the 
presence or risk of related chronic diseases.
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    Both within government and the private sector, multiple efforts are 
being taken or proposed to find and implement effective measures to 
reverse the childhood obesity trend. These include a wide variety of 
approaches, including identifying and funding additional research on 
childhood obesity, considering changes to food and beverage labeling, 
encouraging physical activity, and educating parents and children about 
the importance of physical activity and eating a balanced, nutritious 
diet. One frequent area of attention is the role of food and beverage 
advertising and other marketing directed to children.
    Last fall, the Institute of Medicine issued a report of findings by 
the Committee on Prevention of Obesity in Children and Youth.\3\ The 
report included many recommendations for action by industry, 
government, schools, and parents. Among them was a recommendation that 
the Department of Health and Human Services (``HHS'') convene a 
national conference to assist the development of industry self-
regulatory guidelines for marketing and advertising to children to help 
minimize the risk of obesity. The IOM also recommended that the FTC 
monitor compliance with those guidelines.
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    \3\ Institute of Medicine. 2005. Preventing Childhood Obesity: 
Health in the Balance, The National Academy Press (hereinafter ``IOM 
Report'').
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    In the United States, industry members have adopted their own set 
of guidelines to encourage responsible advertising, including food 
advertising, to children. These guidelines, administered by the Council 
of Better Business Bureau's Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU), 
were established in 1974 by the National Advertising Review Council 
(NARC) to promote responsible children's advertising.\4\
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    \4\ CARU's ``Self-Regulatory Guidelines for Children's 
Advertising'' include basic principles for responsible advertising 
directed to children under 12, as well as principles that relate to 
specific advertising techniques, such as advertising that involves 
endorsement and promotion by program or editorial characters. A 
number of the principles also directly affect how foods and 
beverages are marketed to children.
    CARU reviews and evaluates child-directed advertising in all 
media and seeks voluntary changes by the advertiser when it finds 
advertising that is misleading, inaccurate, or otherwise 
inconsistent with its guidelines. CARU's decisions and the 
advertiser's response are published in the National Advertising 
Division (NAD)/CARU Case Report. The Council of Better Business 
Bureaus administers this program with funds from members of the 
children's advertising industry.
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    In June 2004, NARC published a white paper detailing CARU's ongoing 
self-regulatory efforts and synthesizing the specific principles, 
guidelines, and decisions related to food advertising to children. 
Information about CARU's self-regulatory program, including the 
guidelines and white paper, is available on the CARU Web site at http://www.caru.org.
    In recent years, many individual companies in the food, beverage, 
and restaurant industries, and in the media and entertainment 
industries, have also taken actions to advance responsible food and 
beverage marketing to children and promote healthy lifestyles. These 
actions include reformulating food and beverage products to improve 
their nutritional profile, introducing new products, modifying portion 
sizes and packaging, providing additional nutrition and health 
information in labeling and advertising, establishing nutritional 
thresholds for products marketed to children, establishing criteria for 
marketing techniques that are appropriate for children, and sponsoring 
educational campaigns and programs that promote healthy food choices 
and physical activity.
    Consumer groups have made proposals for expanded self-regulatory 
activities. For example, in January 2005, the Center for Science in the 
Public Interest (CSPI) \5\ proposed an expanded set of ``Guidelines for 
Responsible Food Marketing to Children,'' which calls for further 
voluntary reforms linked to specific nutritional thresholds. Additional 
information about CSPI's proposal is available on the CSPI Web site at 
http://www.cspinet.org.
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    \5\ CSPI is a consumer advocacy organization whose stated 
missions are to conduct innovative research and advocacy programs in 
health and nutrition, and to provide consumers with current, useful 
information about their health and well-being.
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    In light of the widespread public interest in marketing of food and 
beverages to children, the FTC and HHS will hold a workshop on July 14-
15, 2005 in Washington, DC to provide a forum for discussion of ongoing

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industry self-regulatory efforts that seek to address the marketing of 
food and beverages to children.\6\
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    \6\ The workshop will focus on food and beverage marketing to 
children. It is not intended to cover other possible contributors to 
childhood obesity, including sedentary behaviors like watching 
television, playing electronic games on a computer, or decreases in 
exercise, or the marketing of related sedentary entertainment 
products.
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    At the workshop, participants will discuss industry members' 
efforts to address concerns about marketing to children, and CARU's 
efforts to encourage responsible industry advertising. It will also 
provide a forum to hear from consumer advocacy and public health groups 
concerning current industry practices.
    To help in planning for the workshop, the FTC and HHS invite 
comment on the issues and topics set out below.
    1. Food and Beverage Marketing to Children: Including the types of 
foods and beverages marketed to children; how ``children's shows'' are 
usually defined by marketers, advertisers, and self-regulatory and 
regulatory groups; the media (e.g., broadcast and cable television, 
radio, print, the Internet), themes (e.g., taste, fun, nutrition), and 
techniques (e.g., licensing, product placements, packaging) used in 
such marketing; whether the type and technique used in marketing varies 
based on the age of the children who are targeted by marketers; the age 
groups usually targeted by marketers advertising to children (i.e., is 
it usually children aged 2-5, 6-11, and 12 & over, or some other age 
group); the amounts spent on such marketing; the extent of children's 
exposure to such marketing; and how each of the above has changed over 
time.
    2. Research on Impact of Marketing on Child Health: Including any 
correlation over time between food and beverage marketing and 
children's obesity rates, across U.S. regions, and internationally; the 
extent to which any link is explained by the marketing, the sedentary 
nature of TV watching, unobserved family characteristics, or other 
factors; changes in children's food consumption patterns over the past 
three decades; and whether increased caloric intake can be attributed 
to the consumption of more heavily marketed foods.
    3. Existing Industry-Wide Self-Regulatory Programs: Including 
CARU's self-regulatory program; the scope of its guidelines (e.g., the 
media and types of marketing covered, the principles encompassed, the 
age threshold); its effectiveness (e.g., the extent of monitoring and 
enforcement, the degree of industry compliance); consumer and industry 
awareness; and the scope and impact of other self-regulatory programs 
in the U.S. or abroad that relate to food or beverage marketing to 
children.
    4. Individual Company Self-Regulatory Efforts & Best Marketing 
Practices: including the efforts of food and beverage companies to 
foster healthier food choices by children and their parents through 
marketing policies (e.g., nutritional criteria, restrictions on media 
placement, marketing themes, techniques), product modifications (e.g., 
nutritional profile, portion size, packaging information), and other 
means; competition among food and beverage companies to market 
healthier food choices to children and their parents; the efforts of 
media and entertainment companies to foster healthier food choices by 
children and their parents through policies regarding the placement and 
content of food and beverage advertising, the licensing and cross-
promotion of movie, television or electronic game programs or 
characters in food and beverage marketing, and the placement of food 
and beverage products in children's programming; and how the actions or 
policies of government or other stakeholders have created barriers or 
incentives to industry efforts to foster healthier food choices for 
children.
    5. Education: including the effectiveness of efforts by industry 
members, media or entertainment companies, government, public advocacy 
groups, and others to educate children and their parents about the 
nutritional content of food and beverage products and the importance of 
good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle (including industry member 
``seal'' programs like ``Smart Spot'' and ``Sensible Solutions'').
    6. Plans/Proposals for New Initiatives: including the pros and cons 
of adopting one or more of the approaches suggested by CSPI or others; 
any practical experience in implementing such approaches; possible 
roles for industry, the media or third-party self regulatory groups 
like CARU in implementing such proposals; whether self-regulatory 
initiatives should vary based on the age of children who are targeted 
by marketers; additional research that might advance our understanding 
of the impact, if any, of food and beverage marketing on childhood 
obesity; and other issues that should be addressed at the workshop.

Requests To Participate as a Panelist in the Workshop

    Parties seeking to participate as panelists in the workshop must 
notify the FTC in writing of their interest in participating on or 
before Thursday, June 9, 2005. Requests to participate as a panelist 
should be submitted electronically by e-mail to 
[email protected] or, if mailed, should be submitted in the 
manner detailed in the ADDRESSES section above, and should be captioned 
``Food Marketing to Kids Workshop--Request to Participate, Project No. 
P034519.'' Parties are asked to include in their requests a statement 
setting forth their expertise in or knowledge of the issues on which 
the workshop will focus and their contact information, including a 
telephone number, facsimile number, and e-mail address (if available), 
to enable the FTC to notify them if they are selected. For requests 
filed in paper form, an original and two copies of each document should 
be submitted. Panelists will be notified on or before Thursday, June 
23, 2005, if they have been selected.
    Using the following criteria, FTC/HHS staff will select a limited 
number of panelists to participate in the workshop:
    1. The party has expertise in or knowledge of the issues that are 
the focus of the workshop.
    2. The party's participation would promote a balance of interests 
being represented at the workshop.
    3. The party has been designated by one or more interested parties 
(who timely file requests to participate) as a party who shares group 
interests with the designator(s).
    In addition, there will be time during the workshop for those not 
serving as panelists to ask questions.

Form and Availability of Comments

    The FTC/HHS request that interested parties submit written comments 
on the above questions and other related issues to foster greater 
understanding of these topics. Especially useful are any studies, 
surveys, research, and empirical data. All comments should be filed as 
prescribed in the ADDRESSES section above, and must be received on or 
before Thursday, June 9, 2005.

    Dated: May 9, 2005.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary, Federal Trade Commission.
    Dated: May 9, 2005.
Ann C. Agnew,
Executive Secretary to the Department, Department of Health and Human 
Services.
[FR Doc. 05-9576 Filed 5-11-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P