Juliet Sims
Blog Post List
November 5, 2013
McDonald’s has pledged not to market branded foods to children in elementary schools. Yet a new report released by Michele Simon and Corporate Accountability International describes how educational fundraisers like McDonald’s McTeacher’s Night violate the spirit of the pledge – and worse – buy silence when it comes to junk food marketing and children’s health. During McTeacher’s night, schoolteachers actually work the counter of a local McDonald’s, serving up the company’s signature hamburgers, fries, and chicken nuggets. A certain percentage of the profits get sent back to the school, so...
MomsRising
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April 2, 2013
For most expectant moms, breastfeeding is the natural choice. With all the costs that come with having a baby, saving dollars on formula is a welcome change. Plus, breastfeeding decreases a woman’s risk of certain chronic diseases, and breast and ovarian cancer. And, of course, the biggest reason of all: breastfeeding confers many health benefits to the baby, including protecting against infections and chronic diseases and helping to build a healthy immune system. In California, 90 percent of pregnant women enter the hospital intending to breastfeed. Why then are only half of those mothers...
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December 6, 2012
Every year, without fail, on talk shows, in magazines, and even among friends and family, the holidays provide fodder for the same lament: how are we to be healthy during a season that holds eating – particularly foods high in calories and sugar – at its core? And every year as I hear this common refrain, I puzzle over the discussion, because it wholly misses one of the largest contributors to poor nutrition year-round: junk food marketing to children and families. As a health advocate, I grapple with the numbers every day. The food and beverage industry spends upwards of $2 billion marketing...
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January 21, 2011
When I go grocery shopping with my year-old daughter Mirabel, it’s clear that what she lacks in life experience she makes up for with a keen sense of which products were designed just for her. The cereal boxes clad in cartoon characters and soup cans outfitted with Disney princesses already attract her eye, and her hands. While Mirabel chooses products based on the visual appeal of their packaging, I, like most harried parents, rely on food labels to help me make quick decisions about which options are the healthiest for my daughter. That’s why I was proud to be part of Claiming Health , a...
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