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Action Alert
April 28, 2011
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STRATEGIC ALLIANCE
221 Oak Street
Oakland, CA 94607
Tel: 510.444.7738
Fax: 510.663.1280

 

 

Interagency Working Group Publishes Proposed Nutrition and Marketing Standards

Today, the Interagency Working Group on Food Marketing to Children published its much-anticipated proposed nutrition and marketing standards. Representing four federal agencies – the Federal Trade Commission, the Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – the workgroup assembled federal nutrition, health, and marketing experts to develop voluntary nutrition standards for foods marketed to children and adolescents, ages 2 to 17.

While the guidelines are voluntary, they represent a big step in the right direction. Strategic Alliance urges Rapid Responders to submit comments on the proposed standards by June 13, and to continuously monitor and respond to local, state, and national media coverage of this new study.

Here are some angles to cover in your letters to the editor, online comments, blogs, and op-eds:

  • We need policies that protect children and families, and that means stronger government oversight of child marketing. The current system puts all the onus on parents to shield their kids. But when food marketers have access to children in schools, in stores, on television, and increasingly on the internet, parents have the odds stacked against them. Standards that limit the reach of junk food marketing shift the balance in the right direction. After all, parents can't do it all alone.
  • A strong step in the right direction. Food companies spend  $2 billion a year on marketing to children – most of it unhealthy – and it’s paying off.  Today, nearly 40% of kids’ calories come from unhealthy fats and added sugars – the building blocks of junk food.  If we’re going to safeguard child health, it will take initiatives like this to move companies in the right direction.
Click here for a summary of the proposed standards.

Read early Washington Post coverage and post your comments online.

Read Claiming Health, Strategic Alliance and Prevention Institute’s latest study on food labeling of children’s foods.

Share your advocacy efforts with us!
  Did you write a letter or pitch a story? Send us a quick note so we can make sure your efforts are recognized.



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WHAT IS THE STRATEGIC ALLIANCE?

The Strategic Alliance is reframing the debate on nutrition and physical activity away from a focus solely on individual choice and lifestyle towards one of environmental influences and corporate and government responsibility. Current Steering Committee members are: California Adolescent Nutrition and Fitness Program (CANFit), California Center for Public Health Advocacy (CCPHA), California Food Policy Advocates (CFPA), California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, California Park and Recreation Society (CPRS) , California Project LEAN, California WIC Association (CWA), Child Care Food Program Roundtable, Latino Health Access, Partnership for the Public's Health, PolicyLink, Prevention Institute, Samuels & Associates, and Public Health Law and Policy.

HOW TO BECOME A MEMBER

The Strategic Alliance is currently engaged in building a broad and diverse statewide membership. To join or for more information, please visit us on the Web, www.eatbettermovemore.org, or contact Phebe Gibson at 510.444.7738 or Phebe@preventioninstitute.org. And even if you're already a member, please forward this message on to your colleagues so we can continue to strengthen our coalition. Thank you!

 

The Strategic Alliance is reframing the debate on nutrition and

physical activity - from a focus solely on individual choice and lifestyle,

towards one of environmental influences and corporate and government responsibility.

 

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