WASHINGTON -- Voluntary efforts by food and entertainment companies to decrease the amount of advertising to children won the praise of Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chairwoman Deborah Platt Majoras, the Hollywood Reporter reports.

At a workshop on children’s obesity and marketing held last week by the FTC and the Department of Health and Human Services, Majoras said, “Industry action can bring change more quickly and effectively than government regulation of speech.”

Eleven large food and beverage companies, such as McDonald’s and PepsiCo, pledged to participate in a Council of Better Business Bureaus initiative that will decrease snack food marketing to kids. Advertisers shell out approximately $900 million annually on television targeting children under age 12, according to industry estimates. The Better Business Bureau reported that the 11 companies participating account for two-thirds of the total children’s advertising market.

“Childhood obesity is a significant health cost that is borne increasingly by the biggest company. If this doesn’t ultimately spur big firms to act, then ultimately they should be spurred by competition in the marketplace from companies that have chosen to act,” said Majoras during the workshop.