Childhood obesity and junk food - The Boston Globe - Saturday, June 18, 2005 - Corporate Accountability International - Challenging Abuse, Protecting People - Think Outside the Bottle


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Childhood obesity and junk food
The Boston Globe - Saturday, June 18, 2005

Regarding the June 12 front-page story, "Adult diabetes hitting children":

Your story rightly draws the link between the alarming trend of adult-onset diabetes among children and obesity. But it fails to make the equally important link between childhood obesity and the junk-food industry.

The food industry lobbying group, the Grocery Manufacturers of America, has tremendous influence on our children's diets and on US health policies. When the USDA released its new food pyramid earlier this year, the industry's fingerprints were all over it. An earlier draft of the food pyramid included a label indicating that unhealthy foods should only be eaten "occasionally." This label was conspicuously deleted from the final version of the new food pyramid.

It's tragic when children as young as 10 have to take medication and test their blood sugar every few hours. Allowing the GMA and its members to shape health policy is like letting a fox dressed in feathers into the henhouse. The government must protect health policy from such glaring conflicts of interest. Our leaders in Washington must stand up to big campaign donors, including the food corporations that profit at the expense of people's health and the environment.

KATHRYN MULVEY
Executive Director
Corporate Accountability International

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