Press Releases
From the Children Now Newsroom
Children Now statement on nutrition and marketing standards proposed today by the Federal Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children
Apr 28, 2011
In response to the nutrition and marketing standards proposed today by the federal Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children, Jeff McIntyre, national policy director for Children Now, states:
“While Children Now is pleased that the Interagency Task Force has finally released the proposed uniform standard for marketing food to children, we remain concerned that the food and beverage industry and the media industry will not sufficiently comply.
“As the recent Children Now study on food marketing revealed, the food and beverage industry’s ‘Better-for-You’ initiative failed to achieve promised improvements in the nutritional quality of foods advertised. The standards proposed today similarly rely on voluntary efforts, and would not be fully implemented until 2021. With the current generation of American children predicted to have a shorter lifespan than their parents due to obesity related concerns, our nation must take aggressive action now to address this epidemic.
“Children Now looks forward to working with a wide range of grassroots and national organizations to provide official comments to the proposed standards. As voluntary efforts to limit the marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to children have yet to yield substantial results, we will also engage policymakers in ensuring accountability behind the standards that are ultimately adopted.”