A study calls out some of the nation’s best-known athletes for making millions of dollars pitching junk food to kids during an obesity epidemic.
The Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics chewed out quarterback Peyton Manning, basketball star LeBron James and tennis ace Serena Williams on Monday for using their stardom to market fatty and sugary products.
Manning is a pitch man for Papa John’s Pizza, Gatorade and Pepsi Cola. James appears in ads for Sprite, sugar-laden Vitamin Water and Power Ade.
Williams also promotes Gatorade as well as Oreo cookies and other Nabisco snacks. She also sold milk products which can be part of a healthy diet in the “Got Milk?” campaign.
“When taking into account the nutrient quality of the products endorsed and the amount of advertising for each product, Peyton Manning, LeBron James and Serena Williams are the highest contributors to the marketing of unhealthy foods,” the study concluded.
The report, “Athletes Endorsements in Food Marketing,” likened today’s sports celebrities’ pitches for unhealthy snacks to predecessors paid to peddle cancer-causing cigarettes a generation ago.
“It’s as if the dollars blind them to the fact that they are role models,. Thanks to these endorsements, kids and adults are more likely to associate junk foods with fitness or athleticism,” said Michael Jacobson, director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “Of course the opposite is true. Drinking Sprite and eating at McDonald’s is not going to make you play basketball like LeBron James any more than smoking cigarettes will make you ride a horse like the Marlboro Man” it says.
None of the stars returned messages asking for comment.