Would You Like An Ad With That Meal?
I have been afforded the honor to guest post for CK while she enjoys her Thanksgiving on the coast. While it will not be the same lighthearted commentary you would normally see on her site, I believe it fits the overall scheme of her concern as a mother. So here we go.
As we all think about stuffing ourselves like the proverbial Thanksgiving turkey the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) want you to think about this.
How do you feel about a ban on all advertising for fast food that is directed at children. Why do this you ask? Well according to the study, doing so would reduce the number of overweight (obese) children between 3 and 11 by 18% and in the 12 to 18 age group there would be a 14% reduction, with a more pronounced impact on males than females according to the study. According to NBER this is the largest study of its kind to directly tie childhood obesity to fast-food advertising on American TV. The data is based on U.S. Department of Labor done in 1979 and 1997 and involved over 13,000 kids. Just think of it, no more McDonalds ads for the Happy Meal. No more ads for the or BK kids meals with the Simpsons (or what ever the latest bribe of the month is) toys therefore no more pressure on irresponsible parents to get in the car and take their fat little progeny to the nearest gorge and gobble. And after all, look what the ban on alcohol did for us from 1920 to 1933. To my knowledge, our lovely grand-daughter has never had a quarter-pounder or a whopper pass her lips and it is that way because CK and Dr. Normal have acted as responsible parents making the right choices. That's what we should focus on, not banning more advertising. We might as well ban car ads because they cause kids to have traffic accidents.While I can agree that ads may impact habits, it is the parents that should take control and limit couch time. After all, a child does not get a lot of physical activity when their exercise routine is no more strenuous that turning on the Sony Playstation. Hell, if nothing else get them a WII.
