I just have to say that I think the photo used in this story is pretty uncool. We might be accustomed to seeing "headless fatties" on obesity epidemic news stories, but that doesn't make it okay. It's a pet peeve of mine, but it is important for people (especially kids!) of all sizes to be treated with some dignity, no? Especially by foodies!

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It's like someone (whom I don't remember at the time) said: "People say there's violence in the streets because their's violence on television. Well, there's comedy on television too, how come we don't see comedy break out in the streets?"

I'm not really sure where I was going with this.

However, when I see a beer commercial, it makes me instantly want to get one so that I can be cool too and have hot girls all up on me.

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Kids need to go outside more...

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I agree with Maggie. I find the "headless fattie" cliche really offensive. Seems like Slashfood could rise above the standard media outlet and choose not to use them.

Heck, maybe Slashfood could even rise above standard media and choose to cover the obesity panic a little less. Yes, it's a problem, but we hear about it everywhere, all the time. Personally, I come to Slashfood to read about good food and the enjoyment thereof. I can get fat panic stories anywhere else.

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I duno, I saw commercials when I was a kid, but it's not like my parents GAVE me the foods to eat. Or LET me.. I think it's all about how parents teach their kids to eat.

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The only reason why there are junk food commercials is because parents buy that stuff or don't teach their kids about nutrition. Basic supply and demand. If parents don't buy it, no more commercials. Don't blame the manufacturers, marketers or television stations.
How 'bout headless ignorant parents?!

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Miss Tiffie and Jaden have it right: the parents are responsible for what their kids are eating. Why do all these researchers concentrate on the kids? Well, I'm guessing that the headline "Parents Are Making Their Children Fat," isn't really news, now is it, but "Faceless 3rd Party Killing Children Through Obesity" will grab people's attention and have researchers slobbering over the grant money they can get.
Get with it people, it is up to the parents to be responsible and make sure their kids are growing up right, not the food companies' responsibility.
Buth then again, I seem to be reading a fair amount of blogs here that there are a fair amount of people out there that want to blame someone OTHER than the parent.
Is that right for our society?

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(1) No, we did not have commercials like this when we were kids. Child-targeted advertising has had a massive upswing over the course of the past decade. Money is being cranked into this field at unprecedented rates. Advertising in general is far more frequent, and food is at the top of the list.

(2) Yes, of course it is my responsibility as a parent to raise my children right. But I do not have a multi-billion dollar budget to counter the incredible amount of advertising flung at my children. I do not have a panel of child psychologists in my living room helping me to hone my nutritional message, carefully modulating my tone, reworking my word choice, picking the perfect graphics, and so on for the best effect. I can't recruit famous musicians, sport stars and actors to promote broccoli in my living room. In short, I don't have the resources to counteract the food business. And anyone who says "You're the parent--you have more pull on your kids than advertisers do!" either doesn't have children, or is living in some kind of fantasy Leave It To Beaver realm.

I counter advertising the only way I can--we don't have commercial television in our house. I simply cannot compete, and have decided it's pointless to try. My kids miss out on a lot of cool stuff on TV, and may well be teased at school because they don't have television, but I can't see what else to do. And once they get to school, the advertisers are all there, too (on the walls, in the textbooks, on "Channel One TV" every morning), so it's probably hopeless. Corporations show no signs of acting in a responsible fashion regarding advertising to children, and all the responsible parenting we try is like spitting in the wind against them. I cook the best tasting, healthiest foods I can, I try to impart good eating habits to my children, I restrict exposure to advertising as best I can, and pray.

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And all this time I thought that choosing fattening foods causes a person to get fat.

Thanks to the British researches, I now know that it's the other way around!

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Giant companies are targeting kids, not parents, because they are quickly becoming one of the most powerful buying markets, scary enough. I certainly agree that parents need to step up and teach their children what a healthy meal looks like! On the other hand (playing devils advocate here) not all kids are monitored by their parents 24/7, esp when meals roll around and not all parents have access to good, healthy food.

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In response to a few of the posts from above. TV targeting kids is nothing new from the last few years. I am 65 years old and commercials targeting kids was around in the 50's at the beginning of wide spread (no pun intended)television. The saturday morning westerns we all watched(if anyone else remembers them) featured various products including Kelloggs 'Sugar Pops' (Sugar Corn Pops) as a sponser of 'The Range Rider'. the first ingrediants after the Corn, was sugar, corn syrup, and molasses. It is still on the shelves (Corn Pops) after all these years along with many other 'sweetened' cereals.

Yes TV was new and exciting but I have to admit we all played OUTSIDE a lot more in the 50's as kids than we did watching television and/or todays videogames.

We as parents do have responisbility to see what our kids eat to grow up healthy, and as they say, everything in moderation, including television.

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