Better for you!

Food companies spent $1.6 billion to market products to children and teens in 2006. $870 million was targeted to children under 12, and about $1 billion was aimed at teens, according to a report released yesterday by the Federal Trade Commission, reports The New York Times.

The $1.6 billion figure was markedly less than estimated figures, including the Institute of Medicine's $10 billion.

The report, which sought to gauge how pervasive food marketing to children really is, included 2006 data from 44 food and drink companies and fast-food restaurants. "Nonfood" marketing and advertising not aimed at children, such as coupons, were excluded. Companies were permitted to define what "advertising to children" meant.

Food advertisers' favorite medium was TV, where few primetime shows met food advertisers' criteria for targeting to children. (Notably, Coca-Cola only thinks of itself as "advertising to children" when over 50 percent of a show's audience is under 12.)

In response, the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, a coalition of 14 food companies — including Coca-Cola and Kellogg — promised they would either stop targeting children in advertising, or promote only "better-for-you products" — products invested with nutritional value.

Just as companies were permitted to define what "advertising to children" meant, each was permitted to define for itself what "better-for-you" represented.

Nonetheless, the pledge seemed to appease the FTC. Director Lydia Parnes of the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection concluded that joining the coalition would serve as "a useful first step" for other food marketers.

Kellogg's has already updated a number of its products, including cereals like Froot Loops, Corn Pops and Apple Jacks, to meet nutrition standards.

Other efforts underscoring the coalition's pledge include Burger King's decision to offer a Kids Meal with macaroni and cheese, which meets the fast-food chain's "better-for-you" criteria.

To avoid regulatory scrutiny altogether, some companies found an easier route out: advertising, not to children, but to parents instead.