I just love this picture which was posted on the website for the Organic Consumers Association! The fast food industry continues to contribute to the growing problem of childhood obesity in the United States. Food can be quick and easy without being unhealthy! Childhood obesity must be addressed here and now. It is a matter of great urgency in our country. Consumers must demand change in the fast food industry, but this is only part of the solution. Nutritious food must be made available to kids at home, and exercise must be encouraged. In a future blog I will be posting some healthy snack suggestions for children and adults.
This is the post from the Organic Consumers Association:
"PRODUCT PLUNDERS OF THE WEEK:JUNK FOOD INDUSTRY APPLAUDES ITSELF FOR YEARS OF "ETHICAL" ADVERTISING TO CHILDREN Responding to public pressure, junk food companies have formed a task force that they claim will address the childhood obesity epidemic. The group, which includes companies like Coca-Cola, McDonalds, and Kraft Foods, held its first meeting at the end of March. One of the first items on the agenda was how to greenwash the routine industry practice of advertising junk foods to young children. Advertisers spend more than $10 billion annually on manipulating the minds of children. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, children under the age of six cannot distinguish between program content and advertising. Despite this rather undisputed fact, one of the panel's experts, the chief government affairs officer of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, applauded the junk food industry's track record and offered kudos to the current practice of self-regulation saying, "For more than three decades, the self-regulatory guidelines of the Children's Advertising Review Unit have helped to ensure that advertising to children by food companies is age and nutritionally appropriate, and reflects a balanced approach to health and nutrition." According to task force members, it is hoped that future meetings can be as productive, although the meeting concluded with no real changes to the status quo practices of advertising junk foods to children. Learn more: http://alerts.organicconsumers.org/trk/click?ref=zqtbkk3um_1-a2x312cx3341636& "
