Parents sue over 'junk food' ads

[emad]

Consumer groups in the US are suing cereal maker Kellogg's and children's TV network Nickelodeon in a bid to stop them showing adverts for sugary foods.

They are demanding that both companies drop TV and website ads for so-called 'junk foods' aimed at youngsters.

TV ads for sugary and fatty snacks have been criticised by pressure groups in the US, who argue they are helping to fuel soaring child obesity rates.

But industry groups deny that food companies have acted irresponsibly.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4630958.stm

[ISUGRADIA]

1. TV ads? Try the parents who give into the whims of their kids

who are the adults here? They can't apparently say no to their kids or turn off the damn TVs.

[oneoftheboys]

3. It looks like some lawyers are just begging for another round of...

tort reform.

[rainy]

4. its a lot harder than you may think

first you are competing with mega dollars spent on brainwashing your kids. Then you are up against societal pressure as to not want you kid to feel like a freak if they are not allowed to eat such and such. Sure you can keep the sugary cereal away but what about the other harmful stuff? How about no soda? I do not buy soda but I allow my girls to drink it away from home and at parties. Sometimes it is the only thing they can drink.
I am a health nut and try to set a good example by only drinking water and eating a neutrious diet.

My girls still eat junk but they know it is bad and they try to limit it.

It's hard to force a diet on kids especially if they are bombarded with ads and their friends are eating the crap.

[beyurslf]

2. The ads don't make them fat. Parents who let their kids watch tv for 10

hours a day and who buy those "junk foods" are the better culprits.

[rainy]

5. do you eat junk food? Try to make a 13 or 14 year old not eat

ANY junk food. They feel like freaks. I know because I tried to make my 13 year old eat better since birth and she still likes salt and vinegar chips and candy. I refuse to buy it but now she has money and buys her own stuff. You can't be a nag as you will push them away. I just try to set a good example and I eat great! As a kid I allowed only a few candy treats, but their is halloween. Do we take that away from the kids. I used to hate halloween because I knew my kids would be sugared out, but I couldn't deprive them of the fun of the night. Of course we limited the candy that they got to a few pieces a day, but, that is too much for some kids.


Both of my daughters are atheletic and are slim but they still eat some junk, it is all around them. Not much at home but it is at school etc....

[beyurslf]

6. OK and so your daughters exercise and eat well. Doesn't mean they

can't have any junk food. But watching tv from dusk to dawn and pigging out on nothing but chips and junk will make a person fat. And it has nothing to do the commericals they watch when doing it.

[benEzra]

7. Maybe those parents could TURN OFF THEIR TV'S

and get their families off their collective butts to exercise, instead of trying to dictate what OUR family can see on OUR TV via lawsuits...

Geez...

Sugary foods in moderation are fine. I love Froot Loops and Frosted Flakes, but I don't eat them every day.

It is my observation that kids who develop healthy eating and exercise habits before they are teenagers will be OK as teenagers and adults. Parents have near-absolute ability to control the child's diet before junior high, at least.

Many overweight teenagers were overweight in elementary school, and that's mostly the parents' fault. My 7-year-old and my 5-year-old can't buy Twinkies...so Hostess can run all the ads they want, it's not going to make my kids fat...