We Agree with the American Academy of Pediatrics

The influential MD group issued a new policy statement in the December, 2006 issue of their journal, Pediatrics in response to what they call a rising tide of advertising aimed at children. According to the policy statement, “young people view more than 40,000 ads per year on television alone and increasingly are being exposed to advertising on the Internet, in magazines, and in schools.”

The academy says we should ask Congress and federal agencies to:

1. Ban junk-food ads during shows geared toward young children
2. Limit commercial advertising to no more than 6 minutes per hour, a decrease of 50%
3. Restrict alcohol ads to showing only the product, not cartoon characters or attractive young women
4. prohibit interactive advertising to children on digital TV
5. Ads for erectile dysfunction drugs should be shown only after 10 p.m.

"What kind of society exploits its children and teenagers for money? This is an example of where public health really has to trump capitalism," said Dr. Victor Strasburger, lead author of the policy statement.
Last year, the Institute of Medicine agreed that evidence suggesting that TV ads contribute to childhood obesity is compelling and said the industry should market healthy foods to kids.

We agree.

The Bottom Line…The Bottom Line…The Bottom Line…

Yes, we agree with the MD groups who want advertisers to only market healthy products and services to children so that those children will have a better chance at making healthy lifestyle choices. But you can’t take issue with unhealthy advertising of one type when you promote unhealthy advertising of another. Will the MD’s also issue policy statements that we live in an increasingly drug dependent culture, fueled to a large degree by all the drug ads on TV?