Obesity

Profs Smell Smoke in Food Marketing to Kids

by Jonathan Rosenblum — September 8, 2006 - 9:02am

Governments should learn a lesson from tobacco marketeers and restrict junk food advertising aimed at children, says a prominent obesity specialist. Boyd Swinburn, professor of population health at Deakin University in Australia, was one of several members of a global task force on obesity who called for international standards on advertising food products to children.

Main Source: 
Sydney Morning Herald, September 6, 2006

Coca-Cola's Demon Drinks

by Bob Burton — September 6, 2006 - 5:20am

Coca-Cola's new advertising campaign - titled "Drink, Choose, Live" - is aimed at reassuring parents that it has products other than soft drinks. The company states, "If you're not in the mood for water, it's OK to also reach for something else you enjoy, like juice or a soft drink.

Main Source: 
Sydney Morning Herald, September 4, 2006

A Fortunate Matter

by Bob Burton — August 29, 2006 - 4:07pm
  • Topics: Activism, Crisis Management, Obesity, Issue Management, Children, International

    • McHummer

    by Bob Burton — August 11, 2006 - 12:55am

    During August, U.S. McDonald's is teaming up with GM to include a model of the gas-guzzling Hummer in its "Happy Meals." The New York Times notes that McDonald's "appears not to have gotten the message" about rising petrol prices.

    Main Source: 
    New York Times, August 10, 2006

    It's a Game, It's Junk Food, It's Advergaming!

    by Judith Siers-Poisson — July 28, 2006 - 3:23pm

    Ritz Bits Soccer Shoot Out Game

    The Kaiser Family Foundation has released a study titled "It's Child's Play: Advergaming and the Online Marketing of Food to Children," which found that more than eight out of ten (85%

    Main Source: 
    Science News, July 19, 2006

    Junk Food Ads Dominate In Television Food Advertising

    by Bob Burton — July 27, 2006 - 4:51am

    A survey (pdf) by the Cancer Council of New South Wales has found that 81% of all food being advertised on television in Australia was for junk food. The study, which has been published in Health Promotion International journal, recorded 645 hours of television between 7am and 9pm on both weekdays and weekends in four different locations. It found that 31% of all ads were for food, with fast food and takeaway foods being the most common.

    Main Source: 
    Cancer Council of NSW, July 27, 2006

    Kids to Kraft: Where's the Wheat?

    by Jonathan Rosenblum — June 27, 2006 - 2:02pm

    In contrast to the more than $15 billion in direct marketing spent in the U.S. to exhort children to buy food and non-food products, children often don’t get very far with the companies when they start asking questions. Olympia, Washington teacher Michi Thacker assigned her elementary students to write food manufacturers to raise questions, such as where the macaroni comes from.

    Main Source: 
    Rethinking Schools, Summer 2006

    Obesity Task Force Grows Fat With Drug Company Cash

    by Bob Burton — June 19, 2006 - 5:07am

    Ray Moynihan reports in the British Medical Journal that the drug companies Roche and Abbott Laboratories provide approximately two-thirds of the funding of the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF), which has over £1m in cash reserves. Roche makes the anti-obesity drug Xenical while Abbott Laboratories makes Reductil. Dr.

    Main Source: 
    British Medical Journal (sub req'd), June 17, 2006

    Ex-Prez Rapped as Flack for Soda Jerks

    by Jonathan Rosenblum — May 18, 2006 - 9:15am

    The deal already looks suspiciously sweetened. On May 3, 2006, U.S. beverage firms announced an agreement with the Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association gradually to pull most sweetened soft drinks from U.S. schools.

    Main Source: 
    Informed Eating, May, 2006

    Connecticut Cuts 'Ade at Schools

    by Jonathan Rosenblum — May 2, 2006 - 1:20pm

    Gatorade and Powerade, as well as soda and other sports drinks, will be banned from Connecticut schools after a "feverish" double-team by Coca-Cola and Pepsi failed to stop the state's House of Representatives from passing "the strongest school nutrition law in the nation." A flier distributed by Coke's PR reps, Sullivan & LeShane, attacked the bill, urging, "It is counterproductive to tell an 18-year-old who can drive a car, fl

    Main Source: 
    Hartford Courant, April 26, 2006
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