January 30, 2006 Hello! Advertising works. Advertising would not be the multi-billion dollar business that it is if it didn't work. People young and old are persuaded by advertisers who are trying to convince consumers and influence behavior. That said, how is advertising a health issue? "Advertising can have
positive effects on children's behaviour. For example, some alcohol
manufacturers spend 10% of their budget on advertisements warning
about the dangers of drinking and driving. In addition, although
some health care professionals disagree about the health benefits
of appropriate milk use, milk consumption has increased as a result
of print and broadcast advertisements. The developmental stage of
a child plays a role in the effect of commercials. Young children
do not understand the concept of a sales pitch. They tend to believe
what they are told and may even assume that they are deprived if
they do not have advertised products. Most While watching too much television has been linked to obesity because it leads to inactive children (and adults) who are not getting enough exercise, it appears that there are further ramifications, as well. The amount of television also influences the number of advertisements viewed; the advertisements impact the health of the viewers by impacting the choices that they make regarding their health. "Children are an ideal
target, simply because they are avid television viewers. A survey
of seven to 12-year-olds in France and Switzerland by the newspaper
Journal de Genève shows that they spend an average of two
and a half hours in front of their sets every day. Little Germans
watch less, while American children consume between four and five
hours of television every day! Food, toy, clothing and record companies
already invest millions of euros to win them over. In the United
States, the Consumers‚ Union says each child sees 30,000 commercials
a year. Their behaviour shows it: they choose what they consume,
insist on their favourite brands and influence their family‚s
choices." In the 1990s, the medical community was trying to bring to the attention of the public this hidden health concern. "Television and other
media represent one of the most important and underrecognized influences
on children and adolescents' health and behavior in the 1990s. Their
impact should be eliciting serious concern, not just from parents
and educators but from physicians, public health advocates, and
politicians as well. Although objections to various programming
and advertising practices can exist on common sense, philosophical,
aesthetic, humanistic, or public health grounds without strict scientific
data, increasing numbers of studies document that a serious problem
exists." More recently, lawyers
are making the combination of advertising and health a legal issue.
A coalition of lawyers who have actively and successfully sued tobacco
companies says it is close to filing a class-action lawsuit against
soft-drink makers for selling sugared sodas in schools. ... Also
involved in the prospective lawsuit is the Center for Science in
the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group that has aggressively
pressed for more explicit food labels and less fat and sodium in
all kinds of food. Earlier this year, the group called for federally
mandated health warnings similar to those on cigarettes. 'The idea
is to get soda machines out of schools because they are clearly
making a substantial contribution to the obesity epidemic,' Daynard
said yesterday in an interview. 'This is an unfair practice The analogy of soda machines and swimming pools leads to further questions (for example: What is the responsibility that of the owner of the pool to put up a fence, and what is the responsibility of the parents, teachers, and community to teach the child proper water safety?)... But this is more than just a health issue that is becoming a legal issue; it is also a health issue that is becoming a political issue: "[T]he United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA) has prepared a report, at the request
of Congress, which found that the junk food kids consume at school
is leading to obesity and other health problems. The department
sets the nutritional standards for breakfasts and lunches served
in school cafeterias but has no control over food sold through vending
machines. ... The USDA report recommends that Congress 'strengthen
the statutory language to ensure that all foods sold or served anywhere
in the school during the day meet nutritional standards.' Commercial
Alert and other organizations in the United States are urging members
of Congress to implement the USDA recommendation." Advertising as a health issue has become more than just a health issue. It is now a legal issue, a political issue, and a cause for international concern. "The first global
plan to combat the growing threat of obesity was finally agreed
yesterday, despite intensive pressure from the sugar lobby to weaken
the proposals. The plan from the World Health Organisation sets
out guidelines promoting a more active lifestyle, controlling the
marketing of food to children as well as giving advice on healthy
eating. The plan, the first attempt to help the world fight the
spiralling rates of heart disease, diabetes and cancer linked to
obesity, was nearly derailed earlier this year by the sugar barons
who feared it would threaten their trade. But after long negotiations
on Friday, when it was agreed that the plan would state that trade
interests should not be harmed by healthy diet promotion, the 192-member
World Health Assembly backed the plan yesterday. This week British
MPs will produce their own plan for combating child obesity, which
will put the government under intense pressure to bring in strict
curbs on the advertising of junk food to children under five." Questions of the Week: Please email me with any ideas or suggestions. I look forward to reading what you have to say. Cindy |
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