Cereal websites target children

A quick jaunt to Fun K Town can mean hours of online gaming fun for children, from skydiving onto a tropical island to viewing a series of “swashbuckling” video clips, a la “Pirates of the Caribbean.”

The only catch: The island is CinnaIsland and the adventuresome pirate is Toucan Sam, both connected to the sugary breakfast cereals Apple Jacks and Froot Loops.

Produced by Kellogg Co., Fun K Town is one of a number of websites maintained by food companies that target children younger than 12. It’s a trend that increasingly blurs the line between advertising and entertainment, according to a report released this week by the Kaiser Family Foundation, which studied 77 food company websites geared toward children.

Of the top 96 food brands advertised during children’s television programming, 85% had a parallel website that directly targeted children, the study found. But it made no connection between the websites and childhood obesity.