The primary marketing strategy for fast food is not to tout the benefits of a product but to make the product seem "fun" to children. Sadly, there's nothing fun about the $147 billion annual price tag (according to the Centers for Disease Control) for health conditions related to diets high in sugar, salt and fat. Today, those with the greatest influence over our food culture routinely deny culpability for this health crisis, even as they use political influence, billions in financial resources and ubiquitous marketing to maintain the status quo. For instance, the last time limits on the marketing of junk food to kids were imposed, Big Food leaned on Congress to strip the Federal Trade Commission of such regulatory authority. That was 1981, marking the beginning of a 30-year rise in the rates of childhood obesity, diabetes and other diet-related conditions. Industry front groups blame parents for today's epidemic, as if any parent would want his or her child to suffer the needle sticks and doctor's visits that come with these chronic conditions. And when blaming parents fails, the fast-food industry wraps itself in the First Amendment, claiming that predatory marketing is protected free speech. Meanwhile, the American Academy of Pediatrics has warned that marketing to young children is "inherently deceptive." Should the First Amendment really be used by faceless corporations to deceive the youngest, most vulnerable among us? This is the culture we now contend with.
So when the San Francisco Board of Supervisors proposes removing toys from meals that have excessive sugar, salt or fat, let's be prepared for the industry to send in lobbyists, create delays and make promises of "healthier" meals in an effort to avoid true accountability. This, even though reducing the marketing of unhealthy products to kids could improve the health of millions of children. A recent study indicates that banning fast-food advertisements on TV could reduce the number of overweight U.S. children by nearly 20 percent. Now think of the impact if the toy incentives used to push more than a billion junk-food meals each year were put on ice. Passing an ordinance this fall to remove toys from unhappy, unhealthy kids' meals should be the cue to the industry to simply end this outmoded practice. San Francisco can realize progress that the industry has systematically stymied across the country. Turning our food culture upright will require more than the initiative of public servants; it will require a global industry to stop bombarding children with Ronald McDonald and all manner of marketing. What our kids eat should be left to parents and family physicians, not junk-food giants and marketing executives. Our kids need long-term protection, not empty promises. Click here to urge the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors and Mayor Newsom to put this predatory marketing scheme on ice and spare the health of the city's children. Kelle Louaillier is executive director of Corporate Accountability International. Dr. Robert Lustig is professor of clinical pediatrics, division of endocrinology, at the University of California San Francisco. |
