By Jimmy, Stefanie and Tyler

          Everybody knows that kids these days are a little too obsessed with TV. Everybody also knows that kids these days are a little too obsessed with eating junk food. Something not everyone knows, however, is that the two are strongly connected. Where do kids get the idea of obsessing over junk food? The TV, of course. Commercials and advertisements bamboozle today's children in a TV watching, Junk food devouring tornado of darkness.

          You may wonder, "How does such a thing happen?" Well, the answer is junk food brands offering loads of money to TV shows to use their characters in their ads. When the children see their favorite characters trying to sell junk food to them, they instantly want to eat that food out of the love for that character. The Institute of Medicine states that TV strongly affects what children under age 12 eat. It is undeniable that the TV will never fail, so what'll happen next? A panel of scientists say that those characters should advertise healthy food. Sounds pretty easy, right? Wrong. New food products aimed at kids has dramatically increased, with 52 in 1994 becoming almost 500 last year; And of course, nobody said that they're all healthy.

            Half of all TV ads are now food related. This advertising is even more abundant in cartoons, and other children’s shows. Kids that see these ads are more likely to become overweight or obese during their lifetime, adding to the already fast growing epidemic. Food ads are most greatly targeting kids between the ages of 10-12. The advertisements are most effective there because this age group is most susceptible to advertising. Kids in that age group are seeing an average of 21 ads per day, meaning they see over 7,600 ads per year. If something is not done, the obesity epidemic will grow to an untreatable size.

          So if your eyes weren't opened to the problems in the media and what it does to people (mostly children), they should be now. It could slightly scare you, but there is no doubt that the facts are all real and we have to face them. There isn't much we can do to change the media, but we can still stand up for what we believe and what we need to change. We know we will... how about you?

Letter To Editor

220 Amherst Ave.

Sheboygan falls, WI 53085

May 25, 2007

Sheboygan Press Editor

The Sheboygan Press

Sheboygan, WI 53084

Mr. Editor:

As citizens of Sheboygan County, we are now becoming more and more aware of an epidemic of obesity. Half of all ads on TV are food ads, and that is only hurting a healthy cause. If this is going to get turned around, then you have to help make a start.

When we go past the park every day, we see less and less kids there, and then we see a McDonalds next door that has toddlers crowded in its tiny playground. If this keeps up, obesity will become the norm and finding a normal sized child will become a rarity. This is something that can no longer be ignored. Action must be taken to have a better future in later generations.

There are two possible solutions for this. One is that junk food ads aren’t shown on children’s TV shows. If we reduce the amount of ads coming into their life, the epidemic could reverse quite rapidly. Another solution would be promoting healthy foods and outdoor activities, to get kids motivated and eating right. The more that we do now, the more positive the impact is going to be. You can help to stop this crisis. Please take action and do something to prevent this from going out of control.

Consider what we have said, and do something about it. Who knows what can happen if nothing is done?

Tyler Pate, James Richardson, and Stefanie Ogea