Junk Food Marketing and Childhood Obesity
NYT has an interesting article up about the effect of unhealthy food advertisements on children. The bloated rate of childhood obesity, The Times suggests, is probably not entirely a coincidence.
Particularly on television, advertisements for fatty or high-sugar filled foods catering to children are ineffectively regulated.
Yes, food companies are required to meet certain standards when marketing to children under 12. But no, these are not government standards — they’re actually the company’s own standards.
So, Kellogg’s gets to choose how healthy Kellogg’s has to be, and the same goes for General Mills, Post, and all the rest of them.
This legislation might be lacking, but it does keep certain products from being marketed. Kellogg’s does not advertise for Cocoa Krispies, for example, because the cereal features 14 grams of sugar per serving — exceeding the company’s own limit of 12 grams.
