Tag: children
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Study Allegedly Links Obesity to “Structural Brain Impairments” in Adolescence
A recent study has reportedly documented “lower cognitive performance and reductions in brain structural integrity” among adolescents with metabolic syndrome (MeTS), “thus suggesting that even relatively short-term impairments in metabolism, in the absence of clinically manifest vascular disease, may give rise to brain complications.” Po Lai Yau, et al., “Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome and Functional and…
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UK Doctors Urge 9 p.m. Watershed for Food Advertising
The U.K. Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) has issued a statement urging regulators to prohibit all TV advertising for foods high in sugar, fat or salt before the 9 p.m. watershed. Citing a 2003 Food Standards Agency review that allegedly measured the impact of food promotion on children, RCPCH President Hilary Cass…
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Golden Rice Study Criticized on Ethical Grounds
A recently published study involving transgenic rice has reportedly drawn criticism from Greenpeace China, which has accused U.S. researchers of using Chinese children “as guinea pigs in [a] genetically engineered ‘Golden Rice’ trial.” According to media sources, the advocacy group has cited a joint Chinese-U.S. study appearing in the August 2012 edition of the American Journal…
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NYU Researchers Claim Early Exposure to Antibiotics Associated with Increase in Body Mass
New York University researchers using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children with data on more than 11,000 children have purportedly found a consistent association between antibiotic exposure in the first six months of life with “elevations in body mass index with overweight and obesity from ages 10 to 38 months.” L. Trasande, et…
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Advocacy Coalition Seeks FTC Review of Digital Youth Marketing
A coalition of advocacy organizations has filed five complaints with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against companies including McDonald’s Corp., General Mills, Inc. and Doctor’s Associates, Inc., calling for an investigation into Websites they purportedly use to promote food and TV programs to children. According to the coalition, the food-related websites— HappyMeal.com, ReesesPuffs.com, TrixWorld.com, and…
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Chilean Senator Seeks to Enforce Fast-Food Toy Ban
Chilean Senator Guido Girardi has reportedly filed a formal complaint with the country’s Ministry of Health, alleging that fast-food companies have violated a new ban on using toys and other giveaways to market children’s meals. According to media sources, the complaint claims that several fast-food restaurants have flouted the law, along with other food manufacturers…
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Extremely Obese Children Removed from Parents’ Care in Australia
According to news sources, human-services authorities in Victoria have sought protection for extremely obese children on at least two occasions in 2012, arguing to children’s court magistrates that they would be unable to lose weight in their parents’ care. One case reportedly involved a preteen boy who weighed more than 240 pounds and a teenage…
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CSPI Criticizes DreamWorks, Food Companies for Licensing Deals
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has sent a July 18, 2012, letter to the chief executive officer of DreamWorks Animation SKG, criticizing the studio’s decision to license its popular film characters to food companies. Focusing on the recent film Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, the consumer group cited tie-ins “with multiple…