Concerns about childhood obesity and the marketing of junk foods to children are growing. The vast majority of foods marketed to children by Nickeledeon, and its parent company Viacom, are high in fat, saturated and trans fats, salt, or sugars, and few are fruits, vegetables, or whole grains. 

As the number-one provider of entertainment for children, Nickelodeon’s marketing undermines parental efforts to feed their children a healthful diet. There are wide discrepancies between what foods parents tell their children are healthful and what Nickelodeon markets as desirable. In their attempts to feed their children healthfully, many parents find it difficult to compete with Nickelodeon’s state-of-the-art market research, music, animation, and attractive characters such as Sponge-Bob SquarePants. Viacom should establish strong nutrition standards and apply them to its full range of marketing to children. For more information visit http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/nickelodeon.pdf.