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Childhood Obesity
Allysa, Joey and Arm
Obesity is one of the fastest growing health problem in children. The obesity rate has tripled in the last forty years, according to MSNBC's article: Stop Targeting Junk Food to Kids. One of the most controversial effects to childhood obesity is advertising to young children. In the article called PRNEWSWIRE, it states that about 34% of the advertisements on children shows are for candy and snacks, where as only 1% are for fruit juices and none of the advertisements were for fruits or vegetables. Also, in the same article, kids from ages 8-12 see the most television ads a year, about 7,600. This is the age when they just start becoming independent and are ready to make their own decisions and what they see on TV has a lot to do with those decisions. Seeing all of the junk food commercials makes them want more and more and think that it is okay to eat it all the time. Some scientists say that Shrek, Spongebob and other characters, who promote foods that are high in calories and low in nutrition, should start promoting better foods.
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Letter to the Editor
Allysa, Joey, and Arm
220 Amherst Avenue
Sheboyqan Falls, WI 53085
29, May 2007
The Sheboygan Press
632 Center Ave.
P.O. Box 358
Sheboygan, WI 53081
Editor:
Children have become more obese than in the past. TV and advertising is contributed to that fact more and more all the time. Kids are staying inside watching TV, playing video games and surfing the web more than ever before. In doing this, they are getting less exercise and eating more junk food. Also, they are able to see more advertisements, which happen to have a very negative effect on our children.
The advertisements veered toward kids these days are all for junk food such as candies, snacks and fast food. You never see ads for fruits and vegetables. Have you ever noticed that they never show nutrition facts on the commercial about the food they are advertising? Maybe that's all for a good reason too. The age that they are advertising to, which is ages 8-12, are just beginning to become independent and wanting to think on their own. Advertising to them is just like handing them the food.
Spongebob, Shrek and other cartoon characters advertise sugary cereal and other junk food. The junk food that they advertise is high in calories and low in nutrition. You never see the goofy characters try to help sell healthy food such as fruits or vegetables, a healthy diet or even just a good exercise. In them doing that, the generation would become more aware of advertisements that are dangerous to their health.
Another way to help prevent obesity on our kids would be to help teach our kids about healthy lifestyles. This includes a good diet, exercise and what advertisements are good and which ones aren't. Having kids read about different health articles and how they connect to advertising would help them understand how advertisements have a large impact on their lives.
Joey, Arm and Ally
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1st hour
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