Despite frequent calls for regulation of advertising to children and a proliferation of regulatory proposals in this field, particularly with regard to food and beverage advertising, there is no consensus on the definition of a child.

 

Nonetheless, there is significant academic research on children’s understanding of advertising and a number of legal definitions for other purposes, such as different ages of licence, for consent, voting rights and so on. Since the intent of food and beverage advertising regulation is to protect children from the perceived “potentially harmful effects” of advertising, it should be grounded in this evidence base.

 

Discussions about restricting food marketing to children have inevitably included reflections on how a child should be defined. The Broadcasting Code of Ireland defines a child as 18, Ofcom in UK as 16.  

 

This paper seeks to inform the debate by drawing on the academic and empirical evidence as well as looking at other legal precedents. Of particular importance is the evidence on children’s understanding of the persuasive intent of advertising. The analysis of other legal precedents is useful to give some perspective on the proportionality of proposed measures for advertising in relation to other spheres of life.

 

The position paper can be downloaded in full below. For more information on the work that WFA is doing in this field please contact w.gilroy@wfanet.org or consult the Responsible Advertising and Children Programme website.