Pediatricians yesterday declared a fat-wa on junk-food ads aimed at kids.
“Congress and the Federal Trade Commission have to get tough with the food industry,” said Dr. Victor Strasburger, who wrote the new policy statement from the 65,000-member American Academy of Pediatrics.
The doctors said the ads, combined with activities like watching television and playing video games, are producing more and more chubby children.
More than one in six youngsters and teens in the United States are obese — up threefold from a generation ago, according to federal figures.
“Thirty years ago, the federal government ruled that young children are psychologically defenseless against advertising,” Strasburger said.
“Now, kids see 5,000 to 10,000 food ads per year, most of them for junk food and fast food.”
The AAP’s statement comes as public-health officials, lawmakers and parents are becoming increasingly frustrated with rising childhood obesity rates.
“There is massive marketing of the worst foods, even to children under age 5. It is toxic and until it stops there is little hope of dealing with obesity,” said Kelly Brownell, director of Yale’s Center for Food Policy and Obesity.
About $1.6 billion a year is spent on food ads targeted to kids and teens aged 2 through 17 via television, the Internet, video games, text messages and other means, the Institute of Medicine said in a recent report.
In an earlier report, the institute concluded that there is strong evidence that exposure to TV advertising is associated with weight gain in children 2 to 11 years old.
Food-industry groups — which say they have reduced direct marketing to children — took issue with the AAP’s statement.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association said it was based largely on outdated research that does not adequately reflect the marketplace and trends.
Joy Dubost, director of nutrition for the National Restaurant Association, said, “It’s an ineffective approach to blame childhood obesity on advertising when the report points to multiple factors, including sedentary behavior, inadequate amount of sleep and increased screen time.”