A new report this month from the Center for Digital Democracy and American University find that junkfood is marketed to kids everywhere they look online - from virtual worlds to social networks, reports Business Week.
At virtual world Neopets, for example, kids feed their virtual pet ice cream, jellies, and baked goods. And on MySpace, Burger King's mascot has 150,000 "friends." General Mills even launched its own virtual world at Millsberry.com. Then there's Wrigley's long-running Candystand, a gaming site revolving around the company's candy.
The report says all of this online marketing - from web sweepstakes to interactive games - is contributing to the rise in obesity in American children. Kids aged 4 to 12 spent $30 billion on junkfood in 2002.
