Marketing of junk food to children is increasingly becoming an area of concern, particularly since Big Food’s deep pockets allow it to have unprecedented reach.
In “A Crisis in the Marketplace: How Food Marketing Contributes to Childhood Obesity and What Can Be Done”, The Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity lays out the problem and offers viable solutions. Of course, we believe that this issue is not simply limited to obesity; the big picture that needs to be addressed is unhealthy food, regardless of one’s BMI.
In any case, this is a topic that the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has, not surprisingly, largely steered clear of. Makes sense; after all, the worst perpetrators of marketing to children — and the ones who fight any sort of regulation or proposed policy on this matter — are their very partners and sponsors.
Yet again, the food industry buys silence from health organizations by throwing what is essentially spare change their way.
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