Elena O. Lingas ¹, Lori Dorfman ^2*, Eliana Bukofzer ²

¹ University of California, San Francisco
² Berkeley Media Studies Group

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: dorfman{at}bmsg.org.

	Abstract

We assessed the nutritional quality of branded food and beverage products advertised on 28 Web sites popular with children. Of the 77 advertised products for which nutritional information was available, 49 met Institute of Medicine criteria for foods to avoid, 23 met criteria for foods to neither avoid nor encourage, and 5 met criteria for foods to encourage. There is a need for further research on the nature and extent of food and beverage advertising online to aid policymakers as they assess the impact of this marketing on children.

Key Words: Child and Adolescent Health, Media, Nutrition/Food, Obesity, Overweight, Underweight