Opinion: It’s time to fight back against fast-food ads preying on our kids

Remember the first time you asked your parents for a kid’s meal? The excitement of opening the newest toy, almost outweighing the meal itself? Most adults don’t. But early on as a parent, you recognize the thrill in your kid’s eyes the second a commercial from their favorite restaurant comes on. Some time later, their favorite meal is chicken nuggets and fries, and you can’t seem to recall them ever liking anything else. But have you ever realized just how often children see ads for kids’ meals by the time they start ordering them? 

Research shows that between the ages of 2 and 5, children see about 1,035 food-related ads per year, with Black children seeing 75% more fast food ads than their white peers. None of this is coincidental – it’s a calculated strategy to stuff corporate pockets and get kids addicted to foods that can ultimately lead to chronic disease. That’s why we’re sponsoring the Predatory Marketing Prevention Act to protect kids from the misleading marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages. 

As Afro-Latino lawmakers who each represent predominantly Black districts (and one of us is also a registered nurse at Montefiore), we’ve seen how these issues affect our communities firsthand. In Crown Heights, part of Brooklyn’s 20th state Senate district, nearly 60% of residents are Black or Latino. Fast-food chains almost exclusively line the main strips, where hundreds of schoolchildren pass by on their way to school as parents decide what to feed them. 

Food companies spend billions of dollars annually to target Black and Latino children with ads on television and social media. They use bright colors, cartoon mascots and celebrity endorsements to make their products irresistible to kids. Ads for candy-flavored energy drinks land on their screens, claiming to give “epic focus” and boost their “cognitive performance.” When young children are flooded with digital marketing that glorifies unhealthy products, they usually don’t understand that it’s a money grab. But they often develop food preferences for branded products that influence families’ food purchases and ultimately shape their futures for the worse. This is a problem, but it doesn’t have to be.

Our bill would define what constitutes predatory food marketing and build transparency into consumer ads, protecting New Yorkers vulnerable to deceptive ads: children, seniors, and those with disabilities. It also allows the state Department of Health to work alongside local school districts to promote healthy eating and label unhealthy foods accurately. With the Predatory Marketing Prevention Act, New York has an opportunity to set a national precedent and drive healthier futures for the next generation. 

For Black children and other children of color, this issue is even more urgent. Black New Yorkers bear a disproportionate burden of diet-related illnesses, including heart disease, hypertension and diabetes. These conditions are not simply the result of individual choices – they are the consequences of a food environment shaped by decades of discriminatory policies and corporate practices that exploit our communities for profit. During the COVID-19 crisis, Black and Latino New Yorkers faced the highest rates of food insecurity, with limited access to adequate nutrition. 

For this reason, we first introduced our bill at a time when New Yorkers had begun to see how deeply the pandemic exacerbated health disparities among residents of color. Years later, its devastating effects show no signs of slowing. Households with children remain most likely to report food insufficiency. Our kids urgently need a solution that protects them from predatory food marketing and improves their access to healthy nutrition. 

February is both Black History Month and American Heart Month, and there’s no better time to raise awareness about heart health and racial health disparities. As New Yorkers join the nation in celebrating the achievements of our Black community, we also have to confront the systemic inequities that ruin the health of our own residents. A good place to start? Fighting back against the Big Food marketing blitz that preys on children and steers them toward diseases that cut their lives short. 

Just as Black leaders have historically fought for civil rights, it’s on us to build a world that champions children’s health – one that nurtures every child and enables them to lead their lives to the fullest. We must defend our kids’ right to grow up in a world that puts them first and won’t sacrifice their health for corporate greed. 

As Black History Month draws to a close, let us commit to breaking the cycle of predatory food marketing and its destructive impact. We urge our colleagues in the state Senate and Assembly to pass the Predatory Marketing Prevention Act and take a stand for the future of New York children. Our communities deserve better, and the time to act is now.