Tag: children
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FTC Warning Letters: A New Era of Enforcement?
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced that it had sent warning letters to 11 companies that promote omega-3 fatty acid dietary supplements. The letters indicated that the companies should review their product labeling and packaging claims, as well as product advertising, to ensure that the claims are adequately substantiated. The commission’s issuance of these…
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Stephanie Clifford, “A Fine Line When Ads and Children Mix,” The New York Times, February 15, 2010
This article claims that recent efforts to monitor and regulate marketing to children has had “an interesting side effect,” that is, a shift away from traditional tactics to “games, contests and events where the advertiser has only a subtle presence— exactly the opposite of what some of the advocacy groups were aiming for.” According to…
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British Newspaper Reports Scheme to Recruit Youth Marketers
“Children are being paid up to £25 a week to promote sugary soft drinks and other products through social networking sites and playground chat,” claims a February 15, 2010, report published in the Daily Mail. Titled “Child ‘Mini-Marketers’ Paid by Junk Food Firms to Secretly Push Products Among Their Friends,” the article focuses on an…
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White House Launches Campaign to Fight Childhood Obesity
Calling it one of the most urgent health issues facing the nation, the White House has initiated efforts to solve the problem of childhood obesity within a generation. President Barack Obama (D) has signed a Presidential Memorandum which creates a Task Force on Childhood Obesity that includes Cabinet members and is charged with developing within…
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Literature Review Examines Alleged Link Between Artificial Sweeteners and Childhood Obesity
A recent literature review has examined research that links children’s artificial sweetener consumption to weight gain, purportedly finding “no strong clinical evidence for causality.” Rebecca J. Brown, et al., “Artificial Sweeteners: A systematic review of metabolic effects in youth, “International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, January 2010. Sponsored by the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and…
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Massachusetts House Approves Vote to Prohibit Soft Drinks, Candy from Schools
The Massachusetts House of Representatives has reportedly approved a bill (H.B. 4459) that would allow the state to prohibit high-calorie sodas and fatty, salty and sugary snacks in elementary, middle and high schools. The legislation, which supporters believe will help fight childhood obesity, also encourages schools to serve low-fat dairy products and whole grain breads…
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HFCS Removed from Chocolate Milk in San Francisco School District
The San Francisco Unified School District has reportedly announced plans to stop serving non-fat chocolate milk made with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and replace it with formulations using sucrose or regular white sugar. Selling nearly 12,000 cartons of nonfat chocolate milk daily, the district agreed to the change after parents complained about the HFCS content.…
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Panel Urges Obesity Screenings, Comprehensive Weight-Management for Kids
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has issued a recommendation statement advising clinicians to screen children ages 6 and older for obesity and to refer them for intensive counseling and behavior treatment if warranted. USPSTF bases its guidance “on a systematic review of the evidence of the benefits and harms and an assessment of the…