Download (2002). Fighting obesity and the food lobby

Kelly D. Brownell and David S. Ludwig
FightingObesity
AndtheFoodLobby
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Obesity in children has tripled in
the past 20 years. A staggering 50
percent of adolescents in some minority populations are overweight.
There is an epidemic of type 2 (formerly "adult onset") diabetes in children. Heart attacks may become a
disease of young adults.
In response to this public health
crisis, federal and state officials are
seeking ways to protect children
from the ravages of poor diet and
physical inactivity. Nationallegislation on the prevention and treatment of obesity is being considered.
California and Texas are working to
remove snack foods from schools.
There are proposals for the regulation of food advertising to children.
One big question facing those
who deal with the problem is whether to fight the food industry or work
with it. The industry, of course, favors the work-together approach.
Currently, food industry lobbying
groups are invited to Agriculture Department meetings, participate in
professional nutrition conferences,
and have testified before Congress
on obesity legislation. A large and
powerful lobby is at work.
But before taking the cooperative
approach in these matters some disturbing
parallels with tobacco
should be considered.
In 1995 the American Academy of
Pediatrics stated that advertising to
young children is inherently decep.tive and exploitative. Yet each year
the food industry spends an estimated $10 billion to influence the eating
behavior of children.
The average child sees 10,000
food advertisements per year, 95
percent of them for fast food, soft
drinks, candy and sugared cerealsall high-profit and nutrition-poor
products. Marketing campaigns link
fast food and soft drinks to toys,
games, collectibles, movies and popular personalities. Soft-drink companies have established lucrative contracts with cash-strapped school
districts tying financial incentives to
sales.
By contrast, the entire federal
budget for nutrition education is
equal to one-fifth of the advertising
costs for Altoids mints. Is it any wonder that children now consume
about 15 percent of their total calories from fast food, 10 percent from
sugar-sweetened soft drinks and only half the recommended amount of
frnits and vegetables?
The obesity epidemic has many
causes, but deterioration in the diet
almost certaiuly plays a central role.
Fast food is served in massive portions, contains highly processed car.
bohydrate and the worst fats (especially "trans-fat"), and has little or no
fiber. Each of these factors has been
linked to increased risk for obesity,
diabetes or heart disease. Excessive
soft-drink consumption is related in
scientific studies to increased calorie intake, weight gain and obesity.
The food industry contends that
more researcb is needed before action is taken on regulating advertising and sales; that physical inactivity
and not specific foods should be the
target for change; that parents must
teach their children to act responsibly; that vending and soft -drink machines in schools provide freedom of
choice; and that no food or company
should be demonized.
We agree on one count ,..that
more research on children's diets
and their health would be helpfuI,
but the research must be conducted
in a rigorous and unbiased fashion
by independent scientists.
More insidiously, the food lobby
uses money and power to influence
national nutrition policy. Even the
country's main professional dietetic
association has succumbed; it bas a
Web page on beverage cboices sponsored by a grant from the Natioj1al
Soft Drink Association. Legal Times
reported that industry pressure led
to weakening of USDA dietaJ:Y
guidelines aimed at reducing consumption of added sugar.
Versions of these tactics have
been used by the tobacco industiy
for years. Largely because of industry resistance, it took decades before the war on tobacco reduced
rates of smoking significantly.
The nation cannot afford stalling,
diversion and policies witb no teetb
in the nutrition arena; tbe human
toll is too great. There are voices of
reason, or at least enlightened 'selfinterest, within tbe food, indusj:ry.
But will they prevail?
The time has come for the industry to demonstrate that it will be
a trustwortby public health ally' by
adopting the following policies, .(1)
suspend all food advertising anll
marketing campaigns directed at
children; (2) remove sugar-sweetened soft drinks and snack foods
from vending machines in schools;
(3) end sponsorship of scholastic activities and professional nutrition,organizations linked to product promotion; and (4) refrain from
political contn'butions that might influence national nutritional.policy.- .
Otherwise, profit prevails over
public health and the nation loses.
Kelly D. Brownell is a professor of
psychology, epidemiology and
public health at Yale and director
of the university's Center for
Eating and w"ight Disorders.
David S. Ludwig teaches at
Harvard Medical School and
directs the obesity program at
Children's Hospital in Boston.