The UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity released a new report today that evaluates snack food nutrition and marketing to youth. While the report highlights some progress, it also shows children saw substantially more television advertising for unhealthy snack foods in the past five years.  Healthier foods including yogurt, fruit, and nuts accounted for almost 40 percent of snack ads that children viewed on TV in 2014 while at the same time  children's and teens' exposure to TV ads for unhealthy snack foods such as cookies, chips, and fruit snacks increased from 2010 to 2014. The Snack FACTS <http://www.uconnruddcenter.org/snackfacts> report, funded by the RWJF, also shows that companies' advertising disproportionately targets unhealthy snack foods to black and Hispanic youth, and the disparities in exposure between white youth and their black and Hispanic peers increased from 2010 to 2014.



Carol Hazen
Director of Advocacy Resources
Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity
University of Connecticut
1 Constitution Plaza
Hartford, CT 06103
860.380.1018 (o)
203.988.4430 (c)