Television Advertising and Childhood Obesity, Part 5

Television stencil

Would you be surprised to learn that we have talked about TV before? Not with a title like this one! And you probably wonder what there could possibly be more to say about the immense amount of money spent by food corporations that relentlessly fill our kids’ heads with visions of sugarplums. Is there anything […]

Eating as Recreation, Food as Fun

Fat Luigi

When something hits a nerve, there’s no mistaking it. Friday’s post “When There is Nothing to Do But Eat,” concerning one of the contributing factors to the childhood obesity epidemic, definitely brought forth a flood of comments, ranging from pure nostalgia to well-reasoned arguments. Many thanks to everybody for contributing to this topic! By the […]

It's High Fructose Corn Syrup Again

UFO - Unidentified Fried Object

Nobody wants to be a one-trick pony. Nobody wants to be viewed as a fanatic in the grip of a twisted, vendetta-like obsession against one particular villain. But, sometimes, a topic is difficult to ignore. You can’t simply mention it once and then move on. For instance, take high fructose corn syrup… Please! No, really, […]

Around the World With Junk Food Marketing

Snack Food Advertising

Today’s source article, “Statement on Junk Food Marketing to Children,” was published in 2004. “That isn’t news,” one might say — and one would be mistaken. Every charge it makes about the childhood obesity epidemic still holds true, so what does that say about the rate of progress in the effort to curb junk food […]

Childhood Obesity and Government Regulation

Pretzels Cold Drinks Pizza

The editors of Scientific American have compiled an interesting article about childhood obesity, which appears in the May issue. The stark reality is that one out of every three kids in America is overweight, and many people believe the government must do something about it. Those of us whose memories of our school days include […]