The scientific literature documents that food marketing to children is (a) massive; (b) expanding in number of venues (product placements, video games, the Internet, cell phones, etc.); (c) composed almost entirely of messages for nutrient-poor, calorie-dense foods; (d) having harmful effects; and (e) increasingly global and hence difficult to regulate by individual countries. The food industry, governmental bodies, and advocacy groups have proposed a variety of plans for altering the marketing landscape. This article reviews existing knowledge of the impact of marketing and addresses the value of various legal, legislative, regulatory, and industry-based approaches to change.
Researchers looked at how the supply of fast food affects the obesity rates of 3 million school children and the weight gain of over 1 million pregnant women. They found that among 9th grade children, a fast food restaurant within a tenth of a mile of a school is associated with at least a 5.2 percent increase in obesity rates.
One big myth is that fruit juice is a healthy part of our diet. Wrong. Drinking a glass of fruit juice a day ‘” which is the equivalent of one soft drink of 110 to 180 calories ‘” has been linked in the U.S., Australia and Spain to increased calorie intake and higher risks of diabetes and heart disease. Find this interesting story by Bary Popkin in NYT.
Food prices can affect weight outcomes and pricing interventions can have a significant effect on obesity rates, U.S. researchers said.
A pioneer in research on play, Dr. Stuart Brown says humor, games, roughhousing, flirtation and fantasy are more than just fun. Plenty of play in childhood makes for happy, smart adults — and keeping it up can make us smarter at any age. Enjoy this amazing talk on video.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) seeks to build the evidence for and strengthen the use of regulatory, legal and policy solutions to improve public health. Apply for grants if you are based in the US.
Many communities lack safe, adequate places for children and their families to exercise and play. Schools might have a variety of recreational facilities’”gymnasiums, playgrounds, fields, courts, tracks’”but many districts close their property to the public after school hours because of concerns about costs, vandalism, security, maintenance, and liability in the event of injury. Now city, county, and town governments can partner with school districts through what are known as joint use agreements to address these concerns. A formal agreement can set forth the terms and conditions for the shared use of public property. Find the legal tools here.
Individuals who eat more red meat and processed mea have an increased risk of death from all causes and also from cancer or heart disease over a 10-year period. In contrast, a higher intake of white meat appeared to be associated with a slightly decreased risk for overall death and cancer death.
A review and analysis of empirical and historical evidence pertaining to tobacco and food industry practices, messages, and strategies to influence public opinion, legislation and regulation, litigation, and the conduct of science. The tobacco industry had a playbook, a script, that emphasized personal responsibility, paying scientists who delivered research that instilled doubt, criticizing the ‘œjunk’ science that found harms associated with smoking, making self-regulatory pledges, lobbying with massive resources to stifle government action, introducing ‘œsafer’ products, and simultaneously manipulating and denying both the addictive nature of their products and their marketing to children. The script of the food industry is both similar to and different from the tobacco industry script. See alsohttp://www.fooducate.com/blog/2009/03/17/the-food-industry-is-not-behaving-like-the-tobacco-industry-right/
A new study found a significant positive association between sugar-sweetened beverage intake and risk of coronary heart disease. Women who consumed two or more servings of these beverages each day had a 35% higher risk of heart disease compared to those who consumed less than two servings per month.