McDonald’s Still Making News as Childhood Obesity Culprit
An Associated Press news article from Sao Paulo, Brazil, recently reported that a McDonald’s manager successfully sued the company for making him obese. He worked there for 12 years, and packed on 65 pounds while diligently sampling each day’s fare to make sure that it tasted good. The free lunches granted to employees helped, too. […]
Breakfast Cereals for Children
We have spotlighted advertising directed at children as a major causative factor in the childhood obesity epidemic, and nowhere is it more prominent than in the breakfast cereal market. There’s fudge ripple cereal, cereal that tastes like cookies, magical marshmallows with chocolate cereal pieces, and on and on. Shelley Janson, who has done more food-related […]
Television Advertising and Childhood Obesity, Part 3
There are two really good reasons to limit screen time for kids (and grownups too). Reason Number One: If you’re facing a monitor, you’re probably sitting still. Reason Number Two: If you aspire to sane eating habits, network television will try your patience and crumble your resolve. TV commercials are slick, persuasive, and dangerous. It […]
Sell It to the Kids
In “Behind the Shady World of Marketing Junk Food to Children,” Jill Richardson reveals that one out of every three visits to fast food eateries is the direct result of parents being nagged beyond endurance. Apparently, that’s all part of the master plan: Marketers use sophisticated child psychology to help children leverage ‘pester power,’ effectively […]