Toronto Star
Research supports that diet quality — cutting back on added sugar, refined grains and highly processed foods — can help people lose weight most easily. Read full article here…
Metro News
Have you ever been watching a commercial and suddenly felt the urge to stuff your face with pop tarts or potato chips? Of course you have. Ads work on all of us, including kids — that’s why companies spend so much money on them, said Dr. Tom Warshawski, UBC pediatrics professor and chair of the board of the Child Obesity Foundation.
A new UK study shows young people tend to consume more junk food when it’s advertised to them on TV. In Canada, Bill-S228 would restrict unhealthy food #Marketing2Kids with no impact on Kids’ community-level sports sponsorships. Read full article…
The Star
This op-ed by Jean-Claude Moubarac (@jc_moubarac) discusses ultra-processed food consumption and includes mention of Canada’s Health Eating Strategy including Marketing to Kids legislation as solutions. Read full OpEd…
Toronto Star
Far too many products on store shelves are giving us lots of calories but little nutrition
“In the past 70 years, calories from ultra-processed foods have doubled from 24 per cent to 54 per cent of family food purchases,” writes Jean-Claude Moubarac. “Not surprisingly, most of these foods are branded assertively, packaged attractively and marketed extensively, especially to our children. And they are everywhere, often at very low prices”. Read full article…
The Guardian
The Olympics is one of the world’s greatest sporting events. Why is it associated with products that can lead to obesity?
The Olympic stories written over the next weeks will inspire many of those kids to put on their first pair of skates or skis. These images will also be interrupted every other minute by advertisements from official sponsors like Coca-Cola and partners like McDonalds, the very companies that provide the food products that could be the biggest obstacle not only to becoming an Olympic athlete, but also to living a healthy and happy life….
CBC News
“One of the problems identified in the recommendations is that energy drinks are marketed in a way that is attractive to kids.
“This is a significant concern,” said Shearer. “These products are sold all over the place … if you look at the packaging … they’re very much kid-friendly and appealing, for example with army logos, or pink for girls,” said Shearer, whose own 11-year-old daughter has been offered energy drinks at the Calgary Stampede and in line at a local ski resort.
“You’ll see energy drinks set up at sports events. Energy drink manufacturers use lots of social media. They use a lot of gaming venues. And they’ll set up these tables as sampling tables.”
9 News Australia
Australia’s peak medical body is calling for shock advertising, similar to ‘Quit Smoking’ ads, to be used to curb climbing obesity rates.
With the country facing an obesity crisis, confronting images like those used in the successful national anti-smoking campaign are among the novel tactics the Australian Medical Association (AMA) believes could spark radical action, The Courier Mail reports.
AMA President Michael Gannon told the newspaper people do not understand the long-term effects of obesity-related conditions including Type 2 diabetes. Read or watch full story here…
Can Tech Letter
Science certainly had its share of newsworthy items in 2017, from the solar eclipse to the first gene editing of a human embryo, to the discovery of Earth-like planets around a nearby star to the expanding powers of artificial intelligence and the success of the first artificial womb.
Another topic in the public eye would be obesity, overweight and nutrition, with Health Canada currently in the midst of a major overhaul of its nutrition guidelines and food product regulations. On that issue, Canadian researchers had a lot to say, as well. To point to just a couple of studies, UNB scientists found that banning junk food at public schools actually leads to fewer overweight and obese children, while the Heart & Stroke Foundation determined that our kids are exposed to a shocking 25 million junk food ads a year. Read full article here.
Today’s Parent | Blog: Ceri Marsh
The cheesy chip company is developing a “women-friendly chip” that’s quieter and tidier. Let’s not mistake it for anything other than fast food trying to profit on the societally-imposed insecurities of girls and women. Read full blog in Today’s Parent…
Trail Times
Voluntary sodium targets for the food industry have failed to significantly reduce the amount of salt consumers are getting in processed foods, suggesting additional measures are needed, Health Canada says.
Four years ago, the federal department introduced phased-in targets for cutting sodium in 94 categories of processed food, with the goal of meeting that objective by the end of 2016.
But a Health Canada report shows the food industry made no meaningful progress in curtailing salt levels in 45 of those categories (48 per cent) — based on a 2017 evaluation of about 10,500 sample products. In six of those categories, sodium content actually increased. Read full article…
Vancouver Sun
The Globe & Mail