50+ Pediatricians Urge NYS Leg to Pass Predatory Marketing Prevention Act as Diet-Related Illnesses Surge

NEW YORK, NY (04/01/2025) (readMedia)-- Today, dozens of pediatricians from across New York State sent a letter urging Speaker Carl Heastie and Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins to pass the Predatory Marketing Prevention Act (PMPA). This critical legislation would restrict misleading food and beverage marketing that target children, a practice linked to rising rates of diet-related diseases. Making headway in both chambers, the PMPA recently landed in the Senate's one-house budget resolution, after passing the Senate Consumer Protection Committee and a referral to the Assembly Consumer Protection Committee.

Preventable chronic diet-related illnesses among children, including type 2 diabetes-which now accounts for up to 45% of childhood diabetes cases-are escalating at alarming rates. Children of color face disproportionate exposure to unhealthy food and beverage marketing, increasing their risk of developing these conditions. As hospitals statewide reach capacity limits, pediatricians emphasize that passing the PMPA is a necessary step to curb this growing health crisis and ensure a healthier future for New York children.

In their letter, the pediatricians state: "Kids are uniquely vulnerable to fast-food and processed food marketing; it shapes their food preferences and eventual lifelong eating habits. With full knowledge of this, major food and beverage companies capitalize on children's vulnerability. The hard truth: every junk food ad children see brings them one step closer to needing a hospital bed."

Read the full letter here and below.

Last week, PMPA sponsor Assemblymember Karines Reyes joined health experts from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and NYU's Food Environment and Policy Coalition for a press conference unveiling findings from their recent study on food marketing. According to their research, TikTok influencers use ten different types of marketing disclosures for sponsored ads featuring food and beverage products. Yet, nearly 70% of ads featuring branded products failed to disclose their brand partnerships, reaching millions of young viewers online without disclosure.

While New York law prohibits false and misleading advertising, no current regulations protect youth from misleading targeted marketing. The PMPA would change that by granting the New York State Attorney General the authority to investigate and take legal action against companies employing misleading targeted marketing tactics aimed at children. The pediatricians' letter urges lawmakers to pass the bill to help prevent chronic diseases like heart disease, stroke, and diabetes – New York's leading causes of death.

"Across our state, pediatricians are seeing demands for care reach unprecedented levels for chronic diet-related illnesses. Without strong regulation, food and beverage companies are incentivized to lead children astray with products that threaten their health. Passing the PMPA and ensuring transparent food marketing is an essential step toward improving outcomes for New York youth. We urge Albany lawmakers to advance this legislation and prioritize children's physical wellbeing," said Dr. Jeff Kaczorowski, FAAP, Chair of the NYS American Academy of Pediatrics, and pediatrician at University of Rochester Medical Center.

"Bronx children are prime targets for predatory food marketing, with nearly one in five Bronxites lacking access to healthy food. In Belmont-East Tremont-where Union Community Health Center serves thousands of Black and Latino patients each year-bodegas outnumber supermarkets 37 to 1, leaving families with few real choices. With food insecurity and deceptive marketing fueling racial health disparities, our State Legislature must step in to protect youth and pass the PMPA. Our communities can't wait," said Dr. Vanessa Salcedo, MPH, Vice Chair of the NYS American Academy of Pediatrics, and pediatrician at Union Community Health Center.

"As a health care professional and mother of two, I am well aware of how social media has become a breeding ground for deceptive marketing for unhealthy food products," said Assemblymember Karines Reyes, R.N. (D-Bronx) and PMPA Assembly sponsor. "New York State must assert its role, as a regulator, to ensure that our kids are safe from large corporations seeking to profit off their health and wellness, especially during the impressionable years of their youth. That is why I am a proud sponsor of the Predatory Marketing Prevention Act, so that our state has the tools to prevent deceptive advertising, via social media and other means, that urges children to purchase and want junk foods. I am hopeful that my colleagues will support this bill and give our children a fighting chance."

"It's no surprise pediatricians support protecting kids from deceptive ads for unhealthy food and drink. The youngest New Yorkers are bombarded with this kind of marketing from their earliest years. It's past time we do something about it," said Senator Zellnor Myrie (D-20).

Letter

Dear Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins, and Speaker Heastie,

We are writing today to urge the passage of the Predatory Marketing Prevention Act (S397 Myrie/A2584 Reyes) – a crucial step in protecting the health and wellbeing of children in New York. Last year, you both made significant strides to protect children's mental health by restricting addictive social media feeds. Now, we must focus on their physical health by addressing the rampant, deceptive food marketing that sparks unhealthy eating in children and steers them toward lifelong disease.

As pediatricians committed to the health of our patients, we are witnessing an alarming rise in preventable chronic diet-related illnesses. Type 2 diabetes now accounts for 8% to 45% of new cases of childhood diabetes, exacerbated by poor nutrition and physical inactivity. To make matters worse: families with children already face significant barriers to accessing healthy, affordable food, while children are increasingly exposed to marketing that glorifies unhealthy products. There's a wealth of scientific evidence that all points to the same conclusion: misleading food ads predominantly target children and communities of color, who already face an increased risk of developing diet-related diseases. In fact, research shows that young children and adolescents see up to 2.3 fast food TV ads per day, with Black children seeing 75% more fast food ads than White children.

This is a serious issue and it's time we see it for what it is: a public health failure.

Kids are uniquely vulnerable to fast-food and processed food marketing; it shapes their food preferences and eventual lifelong eating habits. With full knowledge of this, major food and beverage companies capitalize on children's vulnerability. They use predatory marketing tactics to push unhealthy products directly linked to preventable health conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and stroke - all leading causes of death in New York. From television and social media to gaming apps and nearly every other virtual space, children are bombarded with ads for junk food that are intentionally designed to lure them in.

The Predatory Marketing Prevention Act (PMPA) would provide the NYS Attorney General with the necessary tools to investigate and limit this dangerous and deceptive marketing. In a food environment where companies spend billions targeting children with candy, sugary drinks, and salty snacks, we can't afford to let dangerous food marketing go unchallenged. The hard truth: every junk food ad children see brings them one step closer to needing a hospital bed. And as demands for care continue to outpace the number of available physicians, New York simply doesn't have the room to ignore this issue any longer than it already has.

While false and misleading food advertising is already illegal in New York, our current laws lack specific protections against predatory marketing aimed at children. But if we are serious about creating a healthier future for the next generation, we need to start with what we feed our kids and the foods they're exposed to.

New York has had nearly four years to pass this bill. We urge you to take swift, decisive action and pass the Predatory Marketing Prevention Act this session. Or else more children will suffer at the hands of corporate greed.

Sincerely,

Ahmad Abdulkader, MD

Katiusca Acosta, MD

Linda Aponte-Patel, MD

Jessica Astudillo, MD

Shabana Azam, MD

Ahmed Bayoumy, MD

Lourdemillard Bellevue, MD, FAAP

Rachel Berman, MD, MPH, FAAP

Jackee Bustos, MD, MPH

Jonathan Caggiano, MD

Elizabeth Darcy, MD

Erica Ding, MD

David Fagan, MD, FAAP

Cristina Fernandez, MD, MPH, FAAP

Hilda Fernandez, MD, MSCE

Suzanne Friedman, MD

Maida Galvez, MD, MPH

Rachelle Gandica, MD

Melissa Grageda, MD

Emily Grew, MD

Tatyana Groysman, MD

Melissa Guillaume, MD

Basant Hamed, MD, MPH

Christopher Jedel, MD

Thomas Joyce, MD, MBA

Carl Julien, MD

Jeff Kaczorowski, MD, FAAP

Hannah Keppler, MD

Ishita Kharode, MD

Saisree Konda, MD, MBBS

Noah Kondamudi, MD

Daisy Lall, MD, MBA, FAAP, DABOM

Wilfredo Lao, MD

Naima Latif, MD

Teresa Lemma, MD

Vedatta Maharaj, MD, MPH

Luz A. Matiz-Zanoni, MD

Franhe Melean, MD

Ana Mendez, MD

Inna Miroshnichenko, MD

Charles Moon, MD

Santosh Parab, MD

Sanjivan Patel, MD, FAAP, DABOM

Louisdon Pierre, MD, FAAP, FCCM

Desiree-Anne Ramsaran, MD, MSc

Mansi Ranasaria, MD

John Rausch, MD, MPH

Trinita Robinson, MD

Vanessa Salcedo, MD, MPH

Patrick Schmidlein, DO

Sujit Shrestha, MD

Dabir Siddiqi, MD

Sara Siddiqui, MD, FAAP, DABOM, IBCLC

Jessica Simkins, MD, MPH, IBCLC

Rachel Sivan, MD

Pinchi Srinivasan, MD

Jonathan Steinman, MD, PhD

Ayesha Usman, MD

Ileana Vargas, MD, MS

Kristen Williams, MD

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