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 […]
Parents, Kids, and TV
HealthDay reporter Steven Reinberg reminds us that one thing parents can do about childhood obesity is set boundaries for watching TV. He interviewed Susan A. Carlson, an epidemiologist at the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, who says the first step is to establish rules agreed upon by parents and children. Spending too […]
Around the World With Junk Food Marketing
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 […]
Television Advertising and Childhood Obesity, Part 2
Childhood obesity is a worldwide problem. Not long ago, Stephanie Nebehay reported for Reuters on the latest World Health Organization guidelines. A WHO spokesperson, Timothy Armstrong, is quoted as saying, The rate of increase in the developing world is greatest because of a rapid change in diet and physical activity patterns. Nebehay passes along the information […]
Television Advertising and Childhood Obesity, Part 1
Some people in Scotland think that junk food advertising now needs to be completely eliminated from television. Since 2007, such ads have been banned from appearing during children’s programs, but now, […] health campaigners say kids are still susceptible to seeing adverts during adult shows before the 9pm watershed and have called for a total […]
High Fructose Corn Syrup, Humor, and Grandma
Grandma made a wicked pecan pie, and so did Mom, and I’ve baked a pecan pie or two myself. I might bake one again some day. So I was very interested to learn, from Liz Gutman at Serious Eats, the difference between traditional, regular corn syrup, and the relatively new-fangled high fructose corn syrup that people […]
TV Makes Kids Fat or Fatter, Take Your Choice
That overweight kids are likely to become obese adults seems to be a fairly reasonable assumption. Of course, whether a person is young or old, excess fat is a liability. It’s just that, as we age, extra poundage becomes even more of a liability. Scientific American doesn’t want to see hefty kids grow into hopelessly […]
Childhood Obesity and Government Regulation
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 […]
A Week of Empty Calories on the Table
If you want to visit the Unhealthiest Town in America, the federal Centers for Disease Control will direct you to Huntington, West Virginia. That’s where fitness-conscious celebrity chef and TV personality Jamie Oliver recently traveled, in order to meet some typical American families and show them the light. There are two reasons why this is […]