June 7, 2024 – A new survey conducted by Pollara Strategic Insights on behalf of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada reveals that seven-in-ten (68%) Canadians feel there should be government regulations in place to protect children from advertisements for unhealthy food and beverages, and the same proportion (68%) support the federal government introducing restrictions on food and beverage companies that would prevent them from specifically marketing unhealthy food and beverages to children under 13.
- Notably, parents with children under 13 years are more likely to feel there should be such regulations in place (73%) and to express support for the federal government introducing related restrictions on advertising to children under 13 years (72%).
High public and parental support for such restrictions is not surprising given that three quarters (76%) of Canadians believe it’s hard for parents to monitor and control the advertising that their children see, and six-in-ten (58%) feel that the food and beverage industry has an unfair advantage over parents in terms of influencing children’s eating and drinking habits.
- Parents with children under 13 share similar views as the general public, with 78% saying it’s hard for parents to monitor and control the advertising that children see, and 58% feeling the food and beverage industry has an unfair advantage on this front.
Heart & Stroke commissioned Pollara Strategic Insights to conduct the research study, based on an online survey amongst a randomly selected, reliable sample of N=1,603 adult Canadians. The data was collected from May 24 to 27, 2024. The final dataset was weighted according to the gender, age, and geographic distribution of adult Canadians, according to the latest Census. An online sample cannot officially carry a margin of error. However, a probability sample of N=1,603 would carry a margin of error of ± 2.5%, 19 times out of 20.
For more poll information and details, see Heart & Stroke’s media release.
