With Christmas coming up, I’m very aware of marketing to children. As the ads on TV are running, my kids are picking out exactly what car, truck or dinosaur they want me to buy for them. The “Pillow Pets” song is permanently stuck in my head. We talk about what advertisements say and don’t say, and most of the time I tell them “No, I’m not buying that” or “You can save your own money for that.” While marketing toys to kids is a sticky situation for parents, marketing of foods and beverages to kids has been targeted by public health experts as a cause of childhood obesity. In the past I’ve posted about the Interagency Task Force and an IOM committee focused on childhood obesity. Some food companies are taking voluntary action through the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI), a project of the Better Business Bureau. The group has set uniform standards for the nutritional value of products that can be advertised to kids. All companies that are part of the CFBAI will need to align with the uniform standards by January of 2014. The IOM Standing Committee on Childhood Obesity Prevention recently provided an update on the efforts of government, food industry and food retailers related to marketing to kid. The one-day workshop featured speakers from advocacy groups, academics and the food industry. Dr. Ellen Wartella opened the session by citing two studies that she had published over the past year, looking at the progress made regarding marketing to children and adolescents, which showed progress that she deemed mostly insignificant. Other presenters talked about the efforts of food manufacturers and media companies, particularly the Disney company. Representatives of other initiatives, including an anti-tobacco organization, spoke about their initiatives and how these could apply to food marketing. This is definitely an issue that public health advocates will continue to discuss, and the food industry, including dairy, may find itself on the defensive.