Television Advertising and Childhood Obesity, Part 5
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 […]
Television Advertising and Childhood Obesity, Part 4
Nothing can make you feel as smart as a page full of numerical trivia. That’s why Harper’s Index has so many fans among the magazine’s readers. This information comes from an old clipping. Way back in 1983, the average child in America had been tempted by only $2.98 worth of advertising in a year. Next, […]
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 […]
Childhood Obesity and Corporate Accountability
Nobody wants to see the U.S. or any other country turn into a nation of blimps. Everyone agrees on that. But when it comes to the means of achieving a reversal of the childhood obesity epidemic trend, people start to have different ideas, and there is ambivalence. BNET’s Melanie Warner regards Childhood Obesity Awareness Month […]
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 […]