Infographics seem to be all the rage these days and my in-box is full of unsolicited graphics relating to diet and obesity. Often, though, if you scroll down far enough you’ll see the illustration is pitching the creator’s own commercial product or service – a big turn-off.
But that’s not the case with material produced by the Master of Arts in Teaching Program at the University of Southern California, the same folks who shared with me an earlier childhood obesity infographic that was pretty startling. This time around, the MAT@USC is focusing on the role played by media and corporate advertising in contributing to children’s poor eating habits.
My only quibble here is the implication that the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative is a meaningful solution to the problem. As I’ve written about on TLT in the past, I believe the CFBAI is little more than a self-defensive move by Big Food to protect its own interests, and the requirements of this self-regulatory program don’t go nearly far enough. And the infographic also mentions the federal Interagency Working Group guidelines without indicating they were effectively gutted by industry last year.
But I still wanted to share the graphic for its many jarring statistics about kids’ viewing and eating habits. Take a look:
Casey says
Good info on ads and childhood obesity but it leaves out this stunning fact: In 1983, companies spent $100 million marketing to kids. Today, they’re spending nearly $17 billion annually.
Megan Williams says
Its a very interesting infographic. Children are often misled by attractive advertisements of junk food products on television. Authorities have to seriously look into these misleading ads.
Bettina Elias Siegel says
I’m glad you found it interesting, and thank you for commenting here.