Fwd: [Food-news] Selling Junk Food to Toddlers

[Guest guest]

>

> www.foodnews.ca

>

> Policy Gap and Confirmation: The pressure on the

> food industry to make

> changes in what and how they advertise to children

> continues following the

> release of the U.S. Institute of Medicine report

> which reaffirmed that

> " current food and beverage marketing practices put

> kids' long-term health

> at risk " . Like the tobacco industry years ago, many

> industry bodies

> continue to play the " question the science " game.

> This includes the

> pro-business Center for Consumer Freedom which calls

> it the " height of

> chutzpah to call for sweeping federal regulations on

> marketing without

> having evidence to prove that advertisements cause

> childhood obesity " . Of

> course, scientifically establishing causal links can

> be very difficult.

> Similarly, after decades of work there is still

> little research to confirm

> a causal link between fruit and vegetable

> consumption and lower cancer

> risk even though most would agree it's a wise

> dietary choice. The

> precautionary principle suggests that marketing

> products to children that

> are almost exclusively high in calories, fat and/or

> low in micronutrients

> does not create an environment where parents or

> their children can easily

> make healthy choices. In addition, today's children

> are exposed to

> marketing to a much greater extent, and through many

> more diverse venues,

> compared to any previous generation. The IOM report

> set a two year

> timeline after which the U.S. Congress should!

> assess whether the food

> industry has made adequate changes to stave off talk

> of government

> intervention. In Europe and elsewhere, officials

> themselves are setting

> timelines. Markos Kyprianou, the European Health

> Commissioner, said last

> year that he would like to see the food industry not

> advertising directly

> to children any more. He gave the industry a year to

> self-regulate or he

> will push for legislation. The attached editorial

> from the NY Times

> highlights other developments on this issue. *BM

>

>

>

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/23/opinion/23thu3.html?ex=1141362000 & en=48de521d8\

0ef0722 & ei=5070 & emc=eta1

>

> New York Times

> Editorial

> Selling Junk Food to Toddlers

> Published: February 23, 2006

> For all the talk about protecting children in

> America, too many of our

> youngest are threatened by a steady blast of

> industrial-strength

> advertising on children's television. Some ads, like

> those for toys and

> games, mostly threaten the family budget. But the

> commercials hawking

> sugary treats or empty calories can be more per!

> nicious. Many health

> professionals now fear that junk-food advertising to

> toddlers and

> pre-teenagers is contributing to soaring rates of

> obesity and diabetes

> among the young.

>

> The Institute of Medicine, in a report last December

> sponsored by the

> federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

> said that " current

> food and beverage marketing practices put children's

> long-term health at

> risk. " It argued that the onslaught of commercials

> directed at such very

> young children can set bad dietary patterns for

> life. And children under 8

> are generally defenseless against sophisticated

> barrages from the giants

> in the food industry.

>

> Parents are the first line of defense, but it's

> tough to hold the line in

> the grocery store against the piercing whines of

> little ones when they

> spot a sugary treat sponsored by a favorite cartoon

> character. The

> government and the food and media industries need to

> help out.

>

> The government, however, has barely noticed this

> problem. The Federal

> Trade Commission decided last year that the food

> industry should police

> itself on marketing low-nutrient foods to

> increasingly fat children.

>

> Some companies, like Kraft Foods, appear to have

> gotten the word. The

> company has agreed to stop marketing such sweets as

> Oreos to children

> under 12. And networks that televise cartoons,

> including Nickelodeon, are

> trying to add more advice to the young on how

> healthy food and outdoor

> exercise can make you feel good, too.

> But progress has been so slow that the Center for

> Science in the Public

> Interest, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free

> Childhood and two

> Massachusetts parents have ann! ounced plans to sue

> Viacom, which owns

> Nickelodeon, and the Kellogg Company. These

> advocates of healthy food have

> accused both companies of " unfair and deceptive "

> junk-food marketing to

> children under the age of 8. They have argued that

> high-powered ads aimed

> at children as young as 2 years old is " creepy and

> predatory. "

>

> It is not clear that a lawsuit like this can

> prevail, even in

> consumer-friendly Massachusetts. But the message

> should be clear.

> Americans pride themselves on protections for the

> young, but they're

> ignoring an issue that may be as important as car

> seats. With more than

> nine million obese youngsters over 6 in this

> country, it's time to stop

> encouraging another generat! ion to eat wrong.

>

> * Bruce Makenzie is a Contributing Editor to

> Foodnews.

>

>

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