Is Katy Perry Causing Childhood Obesity?

by Michelle Minton October 22, 2013

No, of course not! However, a coalition of health advocates seems to be making that assertion when they sent her a letter this week asking that she relinquish her sponsorship of Pepsi because, they insist, its deviously effective marketing of soda to children is a cause of childhood obesity.

Never mind that childhood obesity rates are declining around the nation among all socioeconomic levels, the cause of obesity is not and never has been advertising. Additionally, the solution to any health problem our nation faces is not in the marketing of high-calorie foods. The real problem is that adults — specifically those with the responsibility of raising children — have abandoned their responsibility to instruct children about how to make healthy choices. The only way to inoculate a youngster from the relentless and ubiquitous marketing for less-than-healthful foods is to show them how to make overall healthy diet decisions.

On the other hand, quieting the marketing of a single high-calorie product will do absolutely nothing…..To ReadMore….

 

My Take - It's the same old story.  Activists have to find a villian, and society has to jump on board to excuse their behavior.  The reality is two fold. (1) Calories in. ( 2) Calories out!  It's that simple and has always been that simple.  And that's a personal responsibility issue! 

 

In my youth every ball diamond in the city had kids playing ball.  At times there were only a few and at other times each team had so many players it seems now that it should have been impossible to get a hit.  But you don't see that today.  The kids just aren't buring up those calories as they did when I was a kid.  I might also mention there were always fat kids, and they were playing ball also.  Some kids will be fat, some will be skinny, some will be in between no matter what we do.  Get over it. 

 

One more thing!  The only way we have everyone skinny and this really becomes a crisis is when there isn't enough food.  Then people starve.  So, until then - people need to mind their own business.