Tag: children
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Rudd Center Claims “Smart Snack” Packaging Confuses Students
The University of Connecticut’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity has published a study on student and parent perceptions of competitive foods and beverages sold in schools under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Smart Snack nutrition standards. Jennifer Harris, et al., “Effects of Offering Look-Alike Products as Smart Snacks in Schools,” Childhood Obesity, September…
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Teens Allegedly Influenced by Soft-Drink Warning Labels
Researchers with the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine’s Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics have authored a study claiming that adolescents are less likely to purchase sugary beverages that carry warning labels. Eric VanEpps and Christina Roberto, “The Influence of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Warnings,” American Journal of Preventive Medicine, September 2016. The study…
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AHA Issues Scientific Statement Linking Added Sugars to Cardiovascular Disease in Children
The American Heart Association (AHA) has issued a scientific statement allegedly linking added sugar consumption “at levels far below current consumption levels” to cardiovascular disease risk factors in children. Published in the August 22, 2016, issue of Circulation, the statement recommends that children consume less than 25 grams (100 calories or approximately six teaspoons) of…
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UK Exchequer Issues Details on Soft Drink Levy, Childhood Obesity Action Plan
Her Majesty’s Treasury (HM Treasury) has released the details of a proposed soft-drink levy announced during March 2016 budget talks as part of the U.K. government’s childhood obesity action plan. Slated to take effect in April 2018, the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) would affect the manufacturers of added-sugar soft drinks “with total sugar content of 5…
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Ad Board Recommends Kellogg Adjust Fruit Snacks Packaging
The Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) has advised Kellogg Co. to revise the packaging for Fruit Flavored Snacks, recommending against statements that the product is “made with real fruit.” The front of the package featured cartoon characters and the statement “made with real fruit” superimposed on the image of an apple. The side panel clarified…
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NAP Issues Report Targeting Potential Relationship Between Chemical Exposures and Obesity
The National Academies Press (NAP) has published a report summarizing a March 2015 workshop held by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on The Interplay Between Environmental Chemical Exposures and Obesity. The report summarizes both animal model and human epidemiological studies allegedly linking exposure to environmental chemicals “to weight gain and to glucose…
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NAS Examines Data Collection and Reporting in Obesity Trend Studies
At the behest of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NAS) has issued a report examining “the approaches to data collection, analysis, and interpretation that have been used in recent reports on obesity prevalence and trends at the national, state, and local level, particularly among U.S. children,…
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Senators Urge Nickelodeon to Stop Showing Junk Food Ads
In a letter sent to Nickelodeon and its parent company Viacom, Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) have called on the children’s entertainment network to stop showing advertisements for purportedly unhealthy foods and beverages that are “powerfully promoting childhood obesity.” Citing another company’s announcement last year that…