The Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) created in 2008 exists to limit food marketing of unhealthy foods to children. However, participation in CFBAI is voluntary, CFBAI does not limit advertisements viewed on general audience programming, CFBAI does not restrict the marketing of unhealthy food products, and does not limit adolescent exposure to unhealthy food and ...
Recent studies have found that more fast food and junk food commercials are being directed at older children and teens. Although restrictions exist to limit food marketing towards younger children, currently there are no restrictions on marketing food to older children, making them a vulnerable target of food marketers. ...
The Center for Digital Democracy and 16 other Youth Advocacy Groups have filed a complaint to the FTC against companies who they believe have violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998. Although, COPPA exists to protect children from being tracked online by marketers, companies such as McDonald's and Coca-Cola have been accused of violating COPPA. Now the Center for Digital Democracy is pushing the FTC to put in place more stringent regulations, which would give parents greater control over the tools used to track what their kids are viewing ...
According to the Federal Trade Commission(FTC), food marketing expenditures are declining. However, self regulation of food marketing does not appear to be doing much to limit the exposure that children have to advertisements for unhealthy foods. A 2012 report published by the FTC shows that while television ads aimed at children have decreased, other avenues such as internet ads and cell phone marketing have increased, and are being utilized as less costly and more interactive strategies to reach children. ...
Children aspire to be like celebrities. Therefore, when celebrities like Beyoncé sign a $50 Million endorsement deal with Pepsi Co., concerns are raised as to what effects these advertisements may have on children. Should restrictions be placed on companies marketing junk food to children? Dr. Marion Nestle, a nutrition professor at NYU, says that companies who produce junk food products, "deliberately market their products to low-income, minority ...
In 2013, HB 525 and SB 392 were introduced as companion bills to encourage the adoption of shared use (joint use) agreements in Florida and to promote physical activity during non-school time. Because taxpayer money is used to operate schools, legislators argue that facilities should be available to the public during after school hours. Along with most other states across the country, obesity and lack of physical activity are increasingly a problem among children in Florida. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), less than half of the children across the country have access to parks, sidewalks, or recreation centers. In order to create more places for play, Rep. Jake Raburn (R-Valrico) sponsored HB 525 (2013) to keep school playgrounds open during after ...
Residents living on the Westside of the city of Ventura needed park space. Only three parks existed in their community and only 1.5 acres of park space was available per 1,000 residents who lived there. After several months of working with city officials, local residents finally convinced the City of Ventura to purchase a 2.4 acre lot which will be used to develop a park for the community. Plans for the park are being developed and now residents are working to make sure that city officials will see the development of this project through to completion. According to a blog post from the City Project, on February 4, 2013 the Ventura City Council unanimously agreed to purchase property for the development of a new park. Members from the community attended the meeting where they showed their ...
In 2001, Mayor Rick Baker of St. Petersburg Florida started The Play 'N' Close to Home initiative, with the intent of making playgrounds available within 1/2 mile of every child in St. Petersburg, Florida. Pinellas County entered shared use agreements and developed new playgrounds to increase the amount of play space and now 75% of children in St. Petersburg have a playground located less that 1/2 a mile away from where they live. According to a KaBoom success story, before the Play N' Close to Home initiative, only 49% of residents under the age of 18 lived within half a mile of a playground. Mayor Baker stood fully committed to ensuring that Play 'n' Close to Home was enacted and to ensure proper implementation he assigned high-level staff to gather support from key partners ...
According to a February 2013 article from the Bradenton Herald, Manatee County Commissioner Michael Gallen announced that all 33 elementary schools in Manatee county would be open to the public during non-school hours. A committee comprised of school board members and county officials made the decision to leave school playgrounds open. School board members said that they would speak to principals to implement this new policy and address any concerns they might have. According to the Bradenton Herald, Gallen has been proactive about finding safe places of recreation for the community to use during after school hours. He says that although school playgrounds are considered open space under the county's comprehensive plan, it is still up to each principal to open the playground up to ...
