Ads cause anorexia, obesity, alcoholism and promiscuity in kids?
Categories: Health & safety, Eating & nutrition, Media
The American Academy of Pediatrics is blaming inappropriate advertising on a host of serious children's issues in North America - including obesity, anorexia, underage drinking and underage sex. In a statement that will appear in this month's edition of Pediatrics, researchers note that young people view more than 40,000 ads per year on television alone. They have made recommendations to the federal government which would ban junk food commercials aimed at children, severely restrict advertising on kid's programs, restrict alcohol ads to only the product (no sexy people) and prohibit digital advertising aimed at kids.
I firmly agree that there is too much advertising aimed at kids. My Dad worked for a large cereal company in the 1980's and I learned young how marketer's strategically placed the Sugar Smacks and Corn Pops on the child-high shelves. But I do think that parents have to take some responsibility for the rapidly rising rates of sad conditions in children. Isn't it a parent's responsibility to monitor TV and Internet usage and make sure their children are getting enough fresh air and exercise that they don't have to fixate on those chocolate bar ads? Isn't blaming the marketers kind of like blaming the cigarette companies for addiction to cigarettes?
I might be very wrong on this. What do you think?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
TomF 12-05-2006 @ 1:35PM
This is so true! There were no fat, horny, drunken teenagers before advertising came along!
Seriously though, this seems to be part of the 'Blame Game' so parents can find some other reason for their kids' physical and emotional issues.
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Bill Webb 12-06-2006 @ 11:53AM
Anorexia is caused by parents who expect perfection from their kids. It is an emotional disorder.
Not learning about nutrition, what is good for you to eat, and being caused to follow those guidelines are, without doubt, parental failings.
Realistically, however, one needs to consider that we do not teach these things in school to any great degree, and todays kids are being raised by parents who are not so educated themselves. That being the case, a bit more restraint in advertising can do no harm, and might actually do some good.
What would really be useful and helpful would be a series of well-written, targeted ads or mini-programs that would actually teach kids about nutrition in the same way that junk food ads misinform them. That, however, will be a long time coming because our leaders know who crosses their palms with silver come November.
All-in-all, we're best off taking what we can get, and hounding our legislators for the pie in the TV.
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Paula Zargaj-Reynolds 12-06-2006 @ 7:01PM
I also find it interesting that we heard little from pediatricians about childhood obesity until it reached epidemic proportions.
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