Surgeon General's Anti-Obesity Plan Does Too Little to Protect Kids

[Gary Ruskin]

Commercial Alert				December 13, 2001

Following is Commercial Alert's statement about the U.S. Surgeon
General's report on obesity, which was released today.

"It's good that the Surgeon General wants schools to restrict students'
access to vending machines and school stores that sell junk food.  But
this is not enough."

"Schools should cease serving as dispensaries of pathology for our
nation's children, period.  That means no more advertising of junk food
in the schools."

"In particular, Federal and state government should prohibit Coca-Cola
and PepsiCo from using the schools to market junk food to children.  And
Channel One should be banned from schools across the country, because it
aggressively promotes junk food and soda pop to captive audiences of
school children."

"The federal government is a prime culprit here.  It subsidizes the
manipulation of the nation's children, and the undermining of their
health, through tax deductions for advertising aimed at them.  These
taxpayer subsidies help undermine the authority of parents. They promote
obesity and other health problems, which create enormous financial
burdens for our nation."

The Surgeon General's report "The Surgeon General's Call To Action To
Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity 2001" is available at: 
<http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity/calltoaction/toc.htm>

Commercial Alert's mission is to keep the commercial culture within its
proper sphere, and to prevent it from exploiting children and subverting
the higher values of family, community, environmental integrity and
democracy.  Commercial Alert's website is at <www.commercialalert.org>.

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PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY
-- 
Gary Ruskin | gary@essential.org 
Commercial Alert | http://www.commercialalert.org
Congressional Accountability Project | http://www.congressproject.org
phone: 503.235.8012 | fax: 503.235.5073

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