Marketing Blurb needs your attention, so we are standing on our soapbox for a few 
minutes to share this important quote from an article entitled in Brandweek entitled Feds to Kids' Food Marketers: Shape Up:
"NEW YORK – The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Health and Human Services called on the private sector Tuesday to join in the fight against childhood obesity. The government wants to see changes in the way certain foods are marketed to children and teens, and calls into question marketing mainstays such as product placement and licensing agreements.
“Responsible, industry-generated action and effective self-regulation are critical to addressing the national problem of childhood obesity,” Deborah Platt Majoras, FTC chair, said in a statement. “The FTC plans to monitor industry efforts closely, and we expect to see real improvements.”
Regular readers know why this passage makes Marketing Blurb angry. Yes, childhood obesity is a serious problem. Yes, kids should have a healthy diet. Yes, kids see too many advertisements for junk food. But NO—the food industry and advertising industry are not responsible for obese children. And NO—this is not a problem for government to solve. Parents are responsible for what their children eat. End of story. We are stepping off the soapbox, thanks for reading.
I'm 100% in agreement that parents are responsible for molding and shaping their children, hopefully into healthy, smart and happy kids. However, I think it is asinine to give schools a free pass on nutrition awareness. Schools were created as an additional resource for assisting parents in the goal above. They are also social centers that allow children to become independent thinkers and its that independent thinking which triggers a child to choose a can of Coke and a bag of Doritos over milk and an apple. When Mom and/or Dad aren't looking who cares? That's what is going on in their heads. Don't even tell me for a second when you were that age that you weren't eating the Doritos. If you weren't then you are a rare exception.
When my child is in school I believe it is the school's responsibility to be an extension of the program we put in place for our child at home. For them to finally promote healthy nutrition then kudos to the schools. It's a step in the right direction. Now if only they could do something about those awful tasting lunches.
Posted by: Giro | May 3, 2006 8:21 AM | Permalink to Comment