A study by the Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity blasts the nutritional value of some of the most advertised kids' cereals.
"If one looks at the rank order list of the worst nutrition cereals, it's stunning how the worst cereals are marketed so aggressively to children," said Kelly Brownell from Yale's Rudd Center.
Researchers found that the average American preschooler sees 642 cereal ads a year, and the vast majority of those ads are for sugared cereals.
The study's author says the heavy marketing campaigns are fueling America's growing childhood obesity epidemic. There are ways to train kids to eat healthier food. It's all about what they're exposed to.
The industry's efforts to police itself have failed. For example, under the industry's new standards many of the least nutritional cereals qualify as "better for you" foods.
Cereals like Froot Loops, Cap'n Crunch, and Cocoa Puffs, are cereals that have merit. ABC News also reached out to manufacturers of these cereals. They maintain they are making their cereals more nutritious along with reducing their advertising to children.
The study finds that cereals marketed to kids have 85 percent more sugar, 60 percent more sodium and 65 percent less fiber than those aimed at adults.
耶魯大學(xué)的路德食品政策和肥胖中心的一項(xiàng)研究,對(duì)大多數(shù)兒童麥片廣告吹噓的營(yíng)養(yǎng)價(jià)值進(jìn)行了嚴(yán)厲批評(píng)。
耶魯路德研究中心的凱利 布朗內(nèi)爾說(shuō):"如果有人看了列出的營(yíng)養(yǎng)最差麥片的排名,就會(huì)很震驚,為什么營(yíng)養(yǎng)這么差的東西還不遺余力地向兒童推銷?"
研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn),平均每個(gè)美國(guó)學(xué)齡前兒童一年要看到642個(gè)麥片廣告,絕大部分都是加了糖的麥片。
此項(xiàng)研究的作者說(shuō),強(qiáng)大的市場(chǎng)推銷是刺激兒童肥胖泛濫的原因。有辦法引導(dǎo)兒童食用健康食品,主要在于他們接觸到的(那些廣告宣傳).
這個(gè)行業(yè)自我監(jiān)督的嘗試未能履行。比如,依照行業(yè)新標(biāo)準(zhǔn),許多沒(méi)有營(yíng)養(yǎng)的麥片都符合"健康"食品。
像大嘴鳥(niǎo),嘎吱上尉,美多麥可可麥片都很有名。ABC新聞也提到了這些麥片的生產(chǎn)商。他們堅(jiān)持說(shuō)他們正努力生產(chǎn)更營(yíng)養(yǎng)的麥片,同時(shí)減少針對(duì)兒童的廣告。
研究發(fā)現(xiàn),與向成人推銷的麥片相比,推銷給孩子們的麥片含糖量多出85%,鈉含量多出60%,纖維含量卻少了65%.