Indigenous peoples must look to the past to nourish our children

Globe and Mail

Wilton Littlechild, Grand Chief of the Cree Nation, a residential school survivor, lawyer, and former commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission writes a powerful OpEd published in today’s Globe and Mail on the intergenerational effect of residential schools and shifting food cultures. Littlechild proposes solutions to improve nutrition for Indigenous children including looking to tradition, positive role models and restricting junk food marketing to kids. Read article here…

Jamie Oliver launches manifesto to cut childhood obesity in half as he welcomes government sugar tax

Daily Mail

Jamie Oliver is launching a social media campaign to extend the ban on advertisements for junk food and drink on TV to after the 9pm watershed – as well as restricting what children can see online or on billboards at stadiums and schools. Read full article…

Commentary: I Work to Protect Kids’ Privacy. Here’s Why I’m Calling BS on Google

Fortune

“Kids need protection for the same reasons greedy marketers target them. Young children don’t understand the persuasive intent of advertising, so they don’t stand a chance at resisting it, and they’re forming brand preferences now that may last a lifetime. Marketers also know kids will pester parents to buy things, and that parents will give in—this is human nature, not parental failure. In order to target the extremely lucrative child market, companies vacuum up information on children’s preferences and browsing and viewing habits on websites and through Internet-connected toys and devices”. Read full article…

How Big Sports Leagues Push Junk Food on Kids

Bloomberg

Kids and teens are seeing a lot of junk food ads while they’re watching sports, potentially creating associations between athletic feats and unhealthy fare, according to a new study.

Eighteen companies, including Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo Inc., McDonald’s Corp., and General Mills Inc., have signed a pledge as part of the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative to refrain from pushing unhealthy products to children younger than 12. Read article here…

76% of sports sponsorships tied to junk food

CNN 

Excerpts:
76% of sports sponsorships tied to junk food, study says The study, published in the journal Pediatrics on Monday, reveals that 76% of food products shown in ads promoting a sports organization sponsorship are unhealthy and that 52.4% of beverages shown in sports sponsorship ads are sugar-sweetened.

Cheering on your favorite sports team and snacking on junk food often go hand in hand in the United States, but a new study sheds light on just how intertwined sports and unhealthy foods really are.

The study, published in the journal Pediatrics on Monday, reveals that 76% of food products shown in ads promoting a sports organization sponsorship are unhealthy and that 52.4% of beverages shown in sports sponsorship ads are sugar-sweetened. Read article here…
 

Nutrition Experts Optimistic About New Canada Food Guide to Be Released This Spring

The Epoch Times

“A food policy issue both experts agree on is the new legislation banning the advertising of unhealthy foods to children. The Child Health Protection Act is now in its second reading in the House of Commons and is set to be passed this year”. Read article…

 

 

HFSS food ads mean teenagers eating 18000 extra calories a year, says new report

The Grocer

Exposure to junk food ads can lead to youngsters eating almost 340 extra calories per week, says Cancer Research UK. Read article here…

Front-of-package symbols proposed for foods high in sodium, sugar, saturated fat

Waterloo Chronicle

The federal government wants to make it easier for consumers to choose healthy foods with front-of-package warnings on items that contain high levels of sodium, sugar or saturated fat — ingredients linked to chronic health problems like obesity, heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.

Petitpas Taylor was accompanied at the news conference by representatives of health advocacy groups such as Diabetes Canada, Dieticians of Canada and the Canadian Public Health Association, as well as the Retail Council of Canada. They lauded the proposed warning labels. Read the full article here.

 

 

Children are far from protected from junk food ads – especially on social media

The Conversation

“Social media platforms hold vast data banks on all their users, offering advertisers detailed menus of options for targeting ads. They do so not only with basic demographics such as age or location, but even psychological characteristics and preferences, increasing all consumers’ susceptibility to advertising.Platforms also use children’s data to hone ad targeting. They identify children who are most interested in or vulnerable to junk food and its advertising, thereby sharpening children’s vulnerability and posing profound ethical questions about the business of advertising persuasion in the 21st century. Read full article here… 

 

THOMPSON: Canadians should take note of the Chilean war on obesity

InfoTel News

Should Canada take up arms against obesity like Chile? THOMPSON: Canadians should take note of the Chilean war on obesity. OPINION: Tony the Tiger – you know, that blue-nosed cat that hawked Frosted Flakes for Kellogg’s for 66 years – was killed in Santiago. Read full OpEd…