obesity

How does a mother explain to her children why she's having a breast augmentation, a tummy tuck or a nose job? Help is on the way -- a new book for kids about plastic surgery, My Beautiful Mommy. The story features a handsome, musclebound, superhero-type male doctor and a Mommy who says that as she got older, she couldn't fit into her clothes any more. Mom explains to her child that the doctor is going to help her fix all that. Mom comes home after surgery looking slightly bruised and bandaged, but with fuller, higher breasts. The text of the book doesn't mention breasts, though; only Mom's "tummy." Michael Salzhauer, the plastic surgeon who wrote the book, said, "The tummy lends itself to an easy explanation to the children: extra skin and can't fit into your clothes. The breasts might be a stretch for a six-year-old."

The February 2008 newsletter of the Obesity Society supports a new rule from the New York City's health commisssioner requiring restaurants to publish information about the number of calories in their food, but apparently the society's president, Dr. David B. Allison, hasn't gotten the word. The New York State Restaurant Association, which is suing to block the new rule, hired Allison to write an affidavit arguing against it, on grounds that if people know how many calories are in the food they eat, they actually might get fatter. The Center for Consumer Freedom, a notorious front group for the restaurant industry, has also thrown its weight against the rule, complaining that "the food cop campaign will plaster our nation's menus with warning labels."

Major food companies are planning "to halt advertising junk food to children under 12 throughout Europe," but in the U.S., McDonald's has found "a nifty way to reach kids ... advertise on report cards." The fast food giant "picked up the $1,600 cost of printing report-card jackets for the 2007-2008 school year in Seminole County, [Florida], in exchange for a Happy Meal coupon on the card's cover." The promotion is an apparent violation of the Better Business Bureau's Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, which McDonald's joined last year. Initiative members agree "to limit advertising to children under 12 and focus on better-for-you options." In other advertising news, a New York billboard for an A&E television show "uses technology ... that transmits an 'audio spotlight' from a rooftop speaker so that the sound is contained within your cranium." A&E deemed the "creepy" voices-in-your-head effect perfect for the show, which is about ghosts. But Gawker asked, "How soon will it be until in addition to the Do Not Call list, we'll have a Do Not Beam Commercial Messages Into My Head list?"

By Judith Siers-Poisson

John Stauber and I attended a special pre-release campus screening in Berkeley, CA of "Fast Food Nation," the film based on Eric Schlosser's groundbreaking 2001 bestseller. In the book, Schlosser documented the links between exploitation of migrant workers, the meatpacking industry, fast food consumption, and the manipulation and outright toxicity of much mass-produced food.

Eric Schlosser

By Jonathan Rosenblum

McDonald's has been criticized by PR professionals for its response to the recent study by Stanford University School of Medicine and the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital which found that young children preferred foods associated with the company's packaging. In a media statement (not available in its website), McDonald's spokesman Matt Riker tried to shift the focus away from the fast food giant, writing that "parents make the decisions for their children." PR consultant Eric Dezenhall opined that "you really can't attack a children's hospital." Instead, Dezenhall suggested the company should embrace the third party technique, using scientists or other experts to attack the study. Peter Sandman took the opposite tack, suggesting the company would be better off admitting its responsibility to children. The effect, he said, would be to "take the wind out of the sails of your critics by giving them some credit for the positive changes you've made."

A survey of the impact of marketing on children's taste preferences has revealed the power of McDonald's. Sixty-three preschoolers from low-income families in California were presented with five samples of identical foods and beverages, one in McDonald's packaging and the other in unbranded packaging. They were then asked "to indicate if they tasted the same or if one tasted better." The results? "54.1 per cent of the children said baby carrots served on top of a paper bag bearing the McDonald's logo tasted better than those on a plain bag (23 per cent) - even though McDonald's does not have carrots on its menu," reported Kate Benson in the Sydney Morning Herald. The study authors concluded that the results are "consistent with recommendations to regulate marketing to young children."

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has launched a $150 million promotion campaign for its over-the-counter (OTC) weight loss drug, Alli. But not all media coverage is up-beat about what is a lower-dose version of Roche's prescription only drug, Xenical. New York Daily News reporter Julian Kesner reports that Alli consumers "might just find themselves $50 poorer, lacking in vitamins ... and suffering a bout of diarrhea." GSK has produced a video on what it refers to as "treatment effects," which the product pack states may include "more frequent stools that may be hard to control." A consumer coalition, Prescription Access Litigation, has given GSK its 'With Allies Like This, Who Needs Enemas?' award for marketing the drug over-the-counter, where there are less controls to ensure it is used appropriately. In February this year, the Australian drug regulator revoked Roche's approval to market Xenical with direct-to-consumer advertising, as there "was insufficient public health benefit."

PR Week has more on McDonald's "moms' quality correspondence" PR campaign. The fast food giant met with the six mothers in early June, "at the company's global headquarters in Oak Brook, IL. Future interactions will include a visit to a beef supplier in August and a 'farm field' and produce supplier in September. ... The moms will also get the chance to work behind the counter of McDonald's in Oklahoma City." McDonald's PR executive Tara Lazarus Hayes said the mothers "will get to see first-hand how menu items are made, and ask our executives tough questions about nutrition," and also get a "sneak peek" at a "product due to launch next year." The campaign is geared to help McDonald's neutralize criticism about fast food and childhood obesity. "We're also hoping to dispel that McJob image," added Hayes. "We understand the mom-to-mom dialogue is important because they listen and influence each other." She explained that McDonald's hopes "the misperceptions they had and myths that are out there will be debunked by their [the mothers'] experience." The mothers will write about their experiences "and have them posted, unedited by McDonald's, online at McDonaldsmom.com."

In its current issue, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition acknowledges that a review of soft drinks and obesity (which challenges links between the one and the other) was funded by the American Beverage Association. But the journal excludes information that one of the authors personally and professionally has had close ties to the beverage industry. "(T)he Associated Press reported last year that [Researcher Adam] Drewnowski owns stock in beverage companies and much of his prior research has been financed by the beverage industry," reports the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). Another study by Drewnowski was funded by the Corn Refiners Association and American Beverage Institute. The journal article's co-author, France Bellisle, for his part, sits on an advisory board for McDonald's. Researchers, including CSPI staff, have written that industry-financed studies predictably reach conclusions favorable to the beverage companies.