Less Food For Thought

On Feb. 14, congressfolk, FCC commissioners and representatives of all those forbidden non-fruits, in other words snacks, fast food and soda, meet in Washington to talk about childhood obesity and food marketing.

I wonder if they will be handing out heart-shaped boxes full of brussels sprouts?

It has the potential to be a useful exercise because kids are becoming obese at alarming rates, thanks in part to more sedentary lifestyles in front of the screen and the keyboard, and because PE seems to be disappearing from the schools for reasons that escape me.

So long as this task force does not devolve into a "beat up on the media" photo op, I am all for it, but the solution to this growing health problem rests in a change in attitudes and lifestyles with an assist from the media, including the sort of "get off the sofa and exercise" initiatives media companies have already launched, and careful attention to how kids are being pitched all those wonderful treats.

By John Eggerton