• Obese children: Call for HELP Obese children: Call for HELP St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 26, 2005 Americans spent just under $5 billion on bicycles during 2002. Makers of fast food, sugary cereals and unhealthy snacks spent more than $10
• Obese children: Call for HELP
Obese children: Call for HELP
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 26, 2005
Americans spent just under $5 billion on bicycles during 2002. Makers of fast food, sugary cereals and unhealthy snacks spent more than $10 billion marketing their products to young people. Guess who’s winning the obesity wars?
About 15 percent of young people are obese. That’s triple the rate during the 1970s. It used to be rare to find kids with type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure. No longer.
Not coincidentally, children and adolescents are exposed today to much more – and much more sophisticated – advertising. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that typical American kids see more than 40,000 ads each year, twice as many as during the 1970s. Almost a fourth of those are for candy, fast food, soft drinks or sweetened cereals.
We know that kids nag their parents to buy sugary junk they see on television. Psychologists say that children under age 9 can’t understand “persuasive intent.” That makes them easy targets for advertisers.
Of course, commercials don’t make kids fat. But the products they tout sure do. And those ads aimed at vulnerable kids have less regulatory oversight than ads aimed at adults.
The Federal Trade Commission, which acts against marketers making false or misleading claims, has limited authority over ads targeting kids. Thank Congress for that dubious exemption.
We can talk all we want about personal responsibility. We can blame the parents of obese kids; they’re certainly responsible for what their children eat and how much time they spend in front of the television. But we all have a stake in this issue. If those obese children and adolescents grow into obese adults, we will all be stuck with the bill for their medical care.
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, has introduced legislation that would give the FTC greater authority over ads aimed at kids. The bill – Healthy Lifestyles and Prevention, or HELP America Act – also would expand programs that make fresh fruit and vegetables available in schools. It would provide tax breaks and other incentives to encourage employers to provide workers with comprehensive wellness programs.
Children’s health should be the most nonpartisan issue of all (just ask Missouri Sen. Kit Bond, a Republican who has worked to get money for lead removal and community health centers, both of which benefit kids). Senate Republicans interested in children should push for hearings on Mr. Harkin’s bill.
There is surely enough common ground here to find solutions that reduce childhood obesity now, before it kills us.
