Fight the Obesity Epidemic

Obesity news 133

robin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:51:11 +0000

Obesity News is FOE’s regular round-up of obesity-prevention news from around the world.

Read the latest issue: (18 July 2010)

Read earlier issues of Obesity News

Obesity News 132

robin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 04:34:50 +0000

Obesity News is FOE’s regular round-up of obesity-prevention news from around the world.

Read the latest issue: (28 June 2010)

Read earlier issues of Obesity News

US: McDonald’s threatened with lawsuit over kids happy meal toys

robin — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 09:25:21 +0000

A US nutrition watchdog group says it will sue McDonald’s if the fast-food chain continues to use toys to promote Happy Meals. The Center for Science in the Public Interest says using toys to promote “happy meals” is unfair, deceptive and illegal.

Read more about the threatened lawsuit: CSPI, 22 June 2010

Do McDonald’s toys lure children?

TVNZ ran the story about McDonald’s Happy Meal toys.

They looked at the nutritional content of a happy meal then interviewed a nutritionist. She suggested toys should only come with healthier happy meal options. FOE’s Dr Robyn Toomath also commented.

Read more about McDonald’s toys luring children: TVNZ news, 23 June 2010

Watch the TVNZ video (1.52 min)

US: Cartoon characters attract kids to junk food – study

robin — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 09:05:33 +0000

Popular, licensed cartoon characters are more likely to appear on junk food than on healthy food, according to a new study.

When given a choice between a package decorated with a cartoon celebrity, and identical food in a plain wrapper, most kids picked the food from the cartoon-adorned package as a snack.

Read the press release from Yale University, 21 June 2010

Read the abstract: Pediatrics, 21 June 2010

UK: The lobbying campaign that won the food labelling battle

robin — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 09:56:20 +0000

The lobbying carried out by food manufacturers to block a European-wide food labelling system backed by doctors is “laid bare” in a series of private emails published by The Independent.

Australia: Business as usual for food marketers

robin — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 08:40:52 +0000

The advertising and marketing industries have breathed a sigh of relief after the Australian federal government decided against a big crackdown on food and alcohol marketing.

Public health advocates vow the fight is far from over.

Australia: Why is Australia dragging the chain on getting us moving?

robin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 08:41:07 +0000

With so much evidence showing the wide-ranging benefits of physical activity, why isn’t Australia doing much more to promote active transport?

Read more about promoting active transport: Croakey, the Crikey health blog, 18 June 2010

Europe: EU Parliament rejects ‘traffic light’ food labelling

robin — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 03:44:52 +0000

The European Union parliament has voted against a “traffic light” food labelling scheme for packaged foods and soft drinks.

If passed, food labels would have had red, amber or green colour codes showing the relative amounts of salt, sugar and fat they contain.

A campaign group, The Corporate Europe Observatory, said the food and drink industry had spent over 1 billion euros opposing the traffic light system.

Consumer groups argue that ‘traffic lights’ are easier for shoppers to understand than existing labels.

NZ: ‘Traffic lights’ on food labels proposed

robin — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 09:45:19 +0000

Canterbury DHB’s submission to the food labelling review calls for a traffic-light label on food indicating how often it should be eaten.

“Green would identify the food as healthy and therefore should be eaten often, amber as less healthy so eaten sometimes and red the least healthy so eaten only occasionally.”

Read the article in The Press/Stuff, 16 June 2010

Obesity news 131

robin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 04:36:05 +0000

Obesity News is FOE’s regular round-up of obesity-prevention news from around the world.

Read the latest issue: (13 June 2010)

Read earlier issues of Obesity News