Item - 2016.HL11.1

The Board of Health:

1.  Requested the Government of Canada to:

a.  implement a ban on all commercial marketing to children aged sixteen years and under, in order to provide the most comprehensive protection of child and youth rights and health; and

b.  as an important first step, act swiftly to implement recommendations on commercial marketing of all foods and beverages to children signalled in both the Minister of Health's Mandate Letter of November 12, 2015 and the Senate Report on Obesity in Canada.

2.  Requested the Ontario Minister of Health and Long Term Care to support the Government of Canada in implementing restrictions on marketing to children, as per the recommendations in the provincial Healthy Kids Panel (HKP) report;

3.  Forwarded the report (April 11, 2016) from the Medical Officer of Health to the Ontario Ministries of Children and Youth Services, Education, Government and Consumer Services, Health and Long-Term Care, Health Promotion, to Health Canada, Industry Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Public Health Agency of Canada;

4.  Forwarded the report (April 11, 2016) from the Medical Officer of Health to the Toronto Food Policy Council, the General Managers of Parks, Forestry and Recreation, Children’s Services, and Economic Development and Culture, the Chairs of the Toronto Transit Commission and the Toronto Public Library Board to increase their awareness of the impact of commercial marketing on children's health and wellbeing;

5.  Forwarded the report (April 11, 2016) from the Medical Officer of Health to the Stop Marketing to Kids (M2K) Coalition via the Heart & Stroke Foundation and Childhood Obesity Foundation;

6.  Forwarded the report (April 11, 2016) from the Medical Officer of Health to Advertising Standards Canada, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, the Canadian Marketing Association, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), and the Association of Canadian Advertisers; and 

Governments have increasingly taken an interest in policy interventions to prevent childhood obesity and protect children's rights and wellbeing. Legislated restrictions on commercial marketing to children and youth is one such policy approach that has gained traction in recent years.

Recent developments at the federal level have brought the issue of marketing to children to the national agenda.  Restrictions on commercial marketing of foods and beverages to children, proposed by the senate and a national advocacy coalition and signalled by the federal government, would help address the impacts of commercial marketing on childhood obesity. They also mark an important first step in addressing a broader range of health issues facing children and youth, including sedentary behaviour and other aspects of physical and emotional health and wellbeing, along with supporting internationally recognized principles of children's rights.

Since 1979, the Board of Health has advocated for comprehensive restrictions on commercial marketing targeted to this vulnerable group. In 2010, the BOH supported a comprehensive restriction on all commercial advertising targeted to children under the age of thirteen, directing this recommendation to both federal and provincial governments, as well as to municipal partners. This position strengthened earlier support of prohibitions on all commercial advertising of food and beverages to children.

Recent research provides evidence to strengthen the current BOH position by recommending restrictions on all commercial marketing to children and youth age sixteen and under. This would provide the most protection for children's rights and wellbeing.