The food pyramid meets the regulatory pyramid-responsive regulation of food advertising to children

475 Pages·2014·3.04 MB·English

by  Belinda Reeve

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The food pyramid meets the regulatory pyramid

Responsive regulation of food advertising to children

Belinda Reeve

A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Faculty of Law
The University of Sydney

2014
Abstract
Obesity poses an urgent threat to children’s health. The causes of obesity are many and
varied, but evidence suggests that the food industry makes a significant contribution.
Multinational companies use a range of communication channels and marketing techniques to
promote unhealthy foods and beverages to children. This promotion has a small but
significant effect on children’s food preferences and choices, their consumption patterns and
diet-related health. While public health advocates call for statutory regulation of unhealthy
food advertising, the food industry has mobilised government support for voluntary action.
In Australia, there is significant debate over the success of two self-regulatory codes that
address food advertising to children. In this thesis I evaluate the food industry’s initiatives
using a new approach. Although I consider evidence of the codes’ outcomes, I focus on
whether they establish the building blocks of an effective self-regulatory regime. I use
regulatory studies and public health law to create a framework for evaluation, drawing
particularly on the idea of responsive regulation. I also compare food, tobacco and alcohol
advertising regulation to predict whether statutory regulation of food advertising is practical
and politically feasible.
I find that food and alcohol advertising codes contain a series of ‘escape clauses’ that permit
companies to continue with most of their marketing practices. As a result, the codes do not
significantly reduce children’s exposure to food and alcohol advertising, or moderate the
persuasive techniques used by marketers. Food industry self-regulation lacks the features of a
well-designed voluntary scheme, including clear objectives, independent administration and
monitoring, effective enforcement and systematic review. Further, regulatory processes are
almost entirely industry based, meaning that the scheme is not accountable to external
stakeholders. The difficulty of conducting research in this area underscores this conclusion.
Food and alcohol companies report high levels of compliance with the codes, and an ethical
commitment to responsible marketing practices. However, the initiatives do not place
demanding requirements on participants; they only codify existing best practice in advertising
to children. Further, industry initiatives exclude some of the main food and alcohol
advertisers. In comparison to tobacco, food and alcohol products are highly varied, making
regulation a more complex exercise. More fundamentally, these industries have an economic
interest in advertising unhealthy products to a wide range of age groups. Accordingly, they
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are unlikely to accept any tighter restrictions on advertising to children, which might impact
on their communication with adult audiences.
One way of strengthening self-regulation is to include external stakeholders in regulatory
processes. Public health actors engage with the food and alcohol industry (unlike the tobacco
industry), creating the potential for more collaborative arrangements. However, experience
with the ‘quasi-regulation’ of alcohol advertising illustrates that public health participation
may not create a more transparent and accountable scheme. Also, external participation in
industry schemes is highly contentious, and public health actors risk their credibility and
reputation in doing so. Accordingly, government action is required to broaden the reach of
self-regulation and improve its functioning.
Given the strong case for government action, the question becomes what form it should take.
There are significant political barriers to legislation, including the power of the food industry,
and neo-liberal ideologies that favour minimal regulation. Accordingly, I consider options
outside of ‘command-and-control’ regulation. Through co-regulation, the government could
set clear objectives for the codes to achieve, establish an independent body for monitoring
and enforcement, and formalise its oversight of the scheme. It must also threaten the industry
with more intrusive regulation, should the improved scheme fail to reduce children’s
exposure to unhealthy food advertising. This strategy implicitly endorses a responsive
regulatory approach that begins with voluntary action by the food industry itself. However, it
also recognises the central role of the state in regulation, and describes new ways for
governments to protect public health.

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Acknowledgements
I would like to express my thanks to the representatives of companies, public health
organisations, trade associations and other organisations that participated in my research. All
interviewees were very generous with their time, for which I am truly grateful.
Professor Roger Magnusson was a dedicated and conscientious supervisor. Roger treated me
as an equal and I felt a genuine interest in my ideas that was a source of immense
encouragement. I am also very glad to have had Professor Emeritus Dorothy Broom
supervise both my honours thesis and my PhD. Dorothy is a champion for clear expression
and incisive thinking and she challenged me to be better at both.
I began life at Sydney Law School as a research assistant for Professor Emeritus Ron
McCallum. I have been blessed with his support and that of Professor Mary Crock, his wife. I
also greatly appreciated working with Associate Professor Toni Schofield, and our many
interesting conversations over the years.
My godmother, Dr Gwyn Fox, proved an expert editor during the final stages of thesis
writing. Jenny Kaldor also made helpful suggestions for improvements when I was close to
completion.
Sam Redfern walked me home late at night, carried my books, cooked me dinner and
introduced me to a new world of ideas. I hope we can continue our journey together through
podcasts, TED talks, travelling, cycling and good eats.
Roz Forecast is smart, funny and always supportive. I may not really understand what she
does as a theoretical physicist, but she certainly gets me.
From my parents (a nurse and a doctor) I inherited a love of learning, a fascination with
public health and a social conscience. I will always be grateful for this heritage, and for their
unconditional love and support, even when my adventures take me far from home. I miss
them very much, as well as my brothers Olly and Morgan, their partners Jane and Antoinette,
and my niece and nephew Isabelle and Jack.
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Declaration of originality
I hereby certify that this thesis is entirely my own work. Where it draws upon the writing of
others, I have acknowledged this in the text.
This thesis has not been presented for a degree or a diploma, or for any other purposes at The
University of Sydney or at any other university or institution.
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Publications arising from this study
The following publications and conference presentations resulted from the research
undertaken for this thesis.
1. Peer reviewed journal articles
Belinda Reeve, 'The Regulatory Pyramid Meets the Food Pyramid: Can Regulatory Theory
Improve Controls on Television Food Advertising to Australian Children?' (2011) 19(1)
Journal of Law and Medicine 128
Belinda Reeve, 'Private Governance, Public Purpose? Assessing Transparency and
Accountability in Self-Regulation of Food Advertising to Children' (2013) 10(2) Journal of
Bioethical Inquiry 149
Roger S Magnusson and Belinda H Reeve, 'Regulation and the Prevention Agenda' (2013)
199(2) Medical Journal of Australia 89
2. Conference presentations
Belinda Reeve, 'Self-Regulation of Food and Alcohol Advertising in Australia: Can
Companies Take Responsibility for Public Health?' (Paper presented at the Australasian
Association of Bioethics and Health Law Conference, Auckland, 12-14 July 2012)
Belinda Reeve, 'Can Responsive Regulation Reduce Unhealthy Food Advertising to
Children?' (Paper presented at the Sydney Health Policy Network Forum, Strengthening
Prevention Policy, Sydney Health Policy Network and Prevention Research Collaboration,
The University of Sydney, 9 March 2012)
Belinda Reeve, 'Promoting Compliance: Can Advertising Self-Regulation Reduce Unhealthy
Food Advertising to Children?' (Paper presented at the Emerging Health Policy Research
Conference, Menzies Centre for Health Policy, The University of Sydney, 17 August 2011)

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Table of Contents

Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... i
Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................ iii
Declaration of originality ....................................................................................................... iv
Publications arising from this study ....................................................................................... v
1. Peer reviewed journal articles ......................................................................................... v
2. Conference presentations ................................................................................................ v
Table of Contents .................................................................................................................... vi
List of tables, boxes and figures .............................................................................................. 1
1. Tables .............................................................................................................................. 1
2. Boxes............................................................................................................................... 2
3. Figures............................................................................................................................. 2
List of abbreviations and acronyms ....................................................................................... 3
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................... 5
1. Obesity, food advertising, and regulatory approaches .................................................... 5
2. Food industry self-regulation in Australia ...................................................................... 8
3. Is there evidence of self-regulation’s success? ............................................................... 9
4. A responsive approach to food advertising regulation ................................................. 11
5. Research design ............................................................................................................ 12
6. Research methods ......................................................................................................... 14
7. Key assumptions and definitions .................................................................................. 14
8. The limits of this thesis ................................................................................................. 19
9. The thesis structure ....................................................................................................... 20
CHAPTER 1 ........................................................................................................................... 22
Setting the scene: advertising unhealthy food and childhood obesity ............................... 22
1. The problem of childhood obesity ................................................................................ 22
2. The causes of childhood obesity ................................................................................... 25
3. Food marketing to children ........................................................................................... 28
Communication channels ................................................................................................. 29
Persuasive techniques ...................................................................................................... 32
4. The influence of food advertising on children’s diets .................................................. 33
The history of research on food advertising’s effects on children ................................... 33
What the research shows ................................................................................................. 36
5. Responses to the link between food advertising and obesity ........................................ 40
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Public health responses ................................................................................................... 40
Industry responses ........................................................................................................... 42
Governments’ response .................................................................................................... 45
6. The development of food advertising regulation in Australia ...................................... 46
7. Arguments for government regulation of food advertising to children ........................ 53
Children’s vulnerability to advertising ............................................................................ 53
Harm to wider society ...................................................................................................... 54
The failure of self-regulation ........................................................................................... 55
Advertising restrictions are highly cost-effective ............................................................ 57
Public support for regulating food advertising to children ............................................. 58
8. Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 58
CHAPTER TWO ................................................................................................................... 60
Regulation of tobacco, alcohol and food advertising in Australia ..................................... 60
1. Legislative restrictions on advertising .......................................................................... 63
The Australian Consumer Protection Law ...................................................................... 63
Tobacco control legislation ............................................................................................. 64
Food laws ......................................................................................................................... 65
2. Co-regulation under the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (Cth) ................................... 67
The Children’s Television Standards 2009 ...................................................................... 67
Broadcasting industry codes of practice.......................................................................... 72
Enforcement of broadcast advertising regulation ........................................................... 77
3. Advertising industry self-regulation ............................................................................. 78
The Australian Association of National Advertisers’ scheme.......................................... 78
Advertising industry codes of conduct ............................................................................. 79
4. Industry codes of conduct ............................................................................................. 81
Food industry initiatives .................................................................................................. 82
The ABAC Scheme ........................................................................................................... 85
5. Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 90
CHAPTER THREE ............................................................................................................... 93
Public health and responsive regulation: a theoretical framework for public health
governance .............................................................................................................................. 93
1. The increasing scope of public health law .................................................................... 93
2. Conceptualising public health governance: the role of the state ................................... 99
3. Justifying state intervention in public health .............................................................. 103
4. Regulatory theory and the state’s role in regulatory capitalism ................................. 106
5. Designing regulatory strategies ................................................................................... 110
6. The theory of responsive regulation ........................................................................... 111
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7. Criticisms of responsive regulation ............................................................................ 115
8. Addressing the criticisms of responsive regulation .................................................... 118
9. Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 121
CHAPTER 4 ......................................................................................................................... 123
Assessing the effects of self-regulation ............................................................................... 123
1. Food industry studies evaluating the RCMI and QSRI .............................................. 125
2. Public health research on the effects of the codes ...................................................... 127
3. Government reviews of the existing evidence ............................................................ 130
4. Problems with measuring the outcomes of the RCMI and QSRI ............................... 133
5. A different approach to evaluating food industry self-regulation ............................... 137
6. The components of an effective self-regulatory regime ............................................. 141
Scheme design ................................................................................................................ 144
Company practices......................................................................................................... 145
Industry-level characteristics......................................................................................... 146
Institutional pressures .................................................................................................... 148
7. Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 149
CHAPTER 5 ......................................................................................................................... 151
Research methods ................................................................................................................ 151
1. Document analysis ...................................................................................................... 151
2. Interviews .................................................................................................................... 153
Recruitment .................................................................................................................... 153
Researching self-regulation ........................................................................................... 157
Data reliability ............................................................................................................... 158
Data collection ............................................................................................................... 160
Ethics and consent ......................................................................................................... 161
Data management and analysis ..................................................................................... 163
3. Subsequent chapters .................................................................................................... 164
CHAPTER 6 ......................................................................................................................... 166
The content of food and alcohol advertising codes ........................................................... 166
1. An outline of the food and alcohol industry codes ..................................................... 169
The RCMI and QSRI ...................................................................................................... 169
The ABAC....................................................................................................................... 170
Food and alcohol codes’ definition of ‘children’ ........................................................... 171
2. Media ‘directed primarily to children’ ........................................................................ 172
The RCMI ....................................................................................................................... 172
The QSRI ........................................................................................................................ 176
The ABAC....................................................................................................................... 177
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