Advertising to children in South Africa

Emphasises the youth of South Africa’s population of almost 45 million: 43 per cent are under 20 years old, but 60 per cent of children live below the poverty line and are therefore outside the target area of marketers. Contrasts the freedom that food advertisers have in South Africa for targeting children with the position in developed countries: whereas obesity is an issue in the latter, in South Africa the problem has been one of under‐nutrition. Describes the South African Advertising Research Foundation’s Living Standards Measure studies which aim to estimate the size of the youth market; they are a heterogeneous and media‐rich segment. Outlines the regulatory environment: there is a mix of legal regulation and sophisticated self‐regulation based on the Code of Advertising Practice of the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa. Concludes that marketers will need to attend to the worldwide debate on food advertising to children: incidence of obesity is higher than expected, and this is complicated by the stunting phenomenon, where chronic undernutrition in early life results in abdominal obesity from energy‐rich western diets.