A recent literature review has examined research that links children’s artificial sweetener consumption to weight gain, purportedly finding “no strong clinical evidence for causality.” Rebecca J. Brown, et al., “Artificial Sweeteners: A systematic review of metabolic effects in youth, “International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, January 2010. Sponsored by the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Disease, the meta-analysis looked at 18 studies that included both randomized controlled trials, which did not demonstrate any adverse or beneficial metabolic effects for artificial sweeteners, and “data from large, epidemiologic studies,” which tended to “support the existence of an association between artificially-sweetened beverage consumption and weight gain in children.” The review also pointed to questions raised by recent animal studies while admitting the difficulty of establishing “causality between artificial sweetener consumption, weight gain, and metabolic abnormalities, as artificial sweetener is like to be an indicator for other variables.” According to the authors, “At…
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The Massachusetts House of Representatives has reportedly approved a bill (H.B. 4459) that would allow the state to prohibit high-calorie sodas and fatty, salty and sugary snacks in elementary, middle and high schools. The legislation, which supporters believe will help fight childhood obesity, also encourages schools to serve low-fat dairy products and whole grain breads and pastas, non-fried fruit and vegetables, non-carbonated water, and juice with no additives. The bill applies only to “competitive” foods or beverages—those sold à la carte, in vending machines or as side dishes—which are not part of the larger federal lunch program. “What this bill would do is get junk food out of the schools, but more importantly get healthy food into the schools,” sponsor Representative Peter Koutoujian (D-Waltham) was quoted as saying. Kelly Brownell, director of Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, praised the legislation, saying, “This offers parents a greater…
The San Francisco Unified School District has reportedly announced plans to stop serving non-fat chocolate milk made with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and replace it with formulations using sucrose or regular white sugar. Selling nearly 12,000 cartons of nonfat chocolate milk daily, the district agreed to the change after parents complained about the HFCS content. Its supplier, Berkley Farms, plans to start shipping the reformulated chocolate milk next month, although company officials have noted that the substitution will offer the same caloric and sugar content as the old formula and will not make a difference nutritionally. See San Francisco Chronicle, January 20, 2010.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has issued a recommendation statement advising clinicians to screen children ages 6 and older for obesity and to refer them for intensive counseling and behavior treatment if warranted. USPSTF bases its guidance “on a systematic review of the evidence of the benefits and harms and an assessment of the net benefit of the service.” In an update to its 2005 guidelines for screening children and adolescents, USPSTF reportedly claims that treating obese kids can help them lose weight only if rigorous diet, activity and behavior counseling are involved. According to its latest study, the expert panel found “adequate evidence that multicomponent, moderate- to high-intensity behavioral interventions” for obese children can “effectively yield short-term (up to 12 months) improvements in weight status.” As USPSTF Chair Ned Calonge told a news source, the group realizes that most pediatricians are not equipped to offer the necessary treatment…
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a notice seeking public comments on a proposed set of self-regulatory guidelines submitted by i-SAFE, Inc. under the safe harbor provision of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule. Comments must be submitted by March 1, 2010. The organization that prepared the proposed guidelines is a non-profit that for some years has partnered with industry to provide educational programs for children about online safety issues. It recently determined that it would become involved in assisting and licensing online “operators” with children’s online privacy issues. Among other matters, the i-Safe guidelines would (i) provide notice to parents about the information collected from children by i-Safe licensees, (ii) require verifiable parental consent for the collection of personal information from children; and (iii) provide parents with an opportunity to view the information collected and prevent its further dissemination. See Federal Register, January 13, 2010. In recent years,…
The 34-member Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO) is scheduled to discuss 12 specific recommendations for protecting children from the marketing of unhealthy food and non-alcoholic beverages at the board’s upcoming 126th session slated for January 18-23, 2010, in Geneva. The proposed mechanisms for promoting “responsible” marketing of such fare are contained in the annex to a recent WHO report focusing on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases. According to the report’s annex, “many countries, including those with restrictions in place, are exposed to food marketing in their country from beyond their borders” and the “global nature of many marketing practices needs to be addressed.” Overall, the recommendations strive to provide a comprehensive approach for Member States to draft policies that lessen “the impact on children of marketing of foods high in saturated fats, trans-fatty acids, free sugars, or salt.” More specifically, they champion (i) Member State…
Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) has introduced a bill (H.R. 4310) that would amend the tax code to deny “any deduction for advertising and marketing directed at children to promote the consumption of food at fast food restaurants or of food of poor nutritional quality.” The proposal defines “food of poor nutritional quality” as food “determined by the Secretary (in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Federal Trade Commission) to provide calories primarily through fats or added sugars and to have minimal amounts of vitamins and minerals.” Among those advertising-related expenses that could not be deducted would be travel (including meals and lodging), “goods or services of a type generally considered to constitute entertainment, amusement, or recreation or the use of a facility in connection with providing such goods and services,” gifts, and other promotion expenses. The bill, which has four co-sponsors, was referred to the…
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently hosted a forum titled “Sizing up Food Marketing and Obesity,” which heard proposals from federal agencies, consumer watchdogs and industry representatives for regulating food advertising to children. In addition to addressing new research, First Amendment issues and self-regulatory initiatives, the forum unveiled a set of proposed nutritional standards (SNAC PAC) developed by an interagency working group at the request of Congress. Co-authored by FTC, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Department of Agriculture, SNAC PAC sets out three standards designed to limit the marketing of foods to children ages 2 through 17. Standard I describes foods that “are part of a healthful diet and may be marketed to children without meeting Standards II and III,” including (i) “100 percent fruit and fruit juices in all forms”; (ii) “100 percent vegetables and vegetable juices in all…
British researchers studying 300 Caucasian children with “severe early-onset obesity” (that is, 220 pounds by age 10) discovered that rare chromosome 16 DNA deletions, which remove a gene the brain needs to respond to leptin, an appetite-controlling hormone, gave the children a “very strong drive to eat.” Elena Bochukova, et al., “Large, rare chromosomal deletions associated with severe early-onset obesity,” Nature, December 6, 2009. According to one of the researchers, these children are “very, very hungry, they always want to eat.” Several children in the study had apparently been placed on the social services “at risk” register because authorities assumed their parents were deliberately overfeeding them. According to news sources, these children have now been removed from the register. While some medical experts cautioned that most overweight children do not have the gene deletion, they urged authorities to provide support to families with obese children. One was quoted as saying, “The…
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has issued a report alleging that “nearly 80 percent of food ads on the popular children’s network Nickelodeon are for foods of poor nutritional quality.” Titled “Better-For-Who? Revisiting company promises on food marketing to children,” the analysis purportedly revealed that one-fourth of the food and beverage advertisements aired on Nickelodeon “were from companies that don’t participate in the industry’s self-regulatory program,” the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI). The watchdog also criticized CFBAI signatories for promoting products that failed to meet CSPI’s stringent nutritional benchmarks. “Of the 452 foods and beverages that companies say are acceptable to market to children, CSPI found that 267, or nearly 60 percent, do not meet CSPI’s recommended nutrition standards for food marketing to children,” claimed the group in a November 24, 2009, press release. “Nickelodeon should be ashamed that it earns so much money…
