Margo Wootan
Blog Post List
September 11, 2015
There is tremendous progress underway toward improving schools foods. Yet, some food companies, school food service organizations, and Members of Congress are trying to roll back these improvements, including around fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and salt. For example they’re trying to undermine consumer confidence in the science around the need for sodium reduction. Experts have recommended eating less sodium since at least 1977. A new analysis by the American Heart Association confirms that the evidence is strong to recommend lowering sodium to moderate levels beginning in childhood...
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October 31, 2013
As public pressure continues to grow on food, beverage, restaurant, and entertainment companies to limit unhealthy food marketing to children, companies are pushing back and trying to shift the blame from their products and marketing tactics to parents. Industry talking points emphasize the importance of personal responsibility, and argue that if mom really wants to reduce her child’s exposure to food advertising, it’s up to her to just turn off the television and ignore her child begging for junk food in the cereal aisle. But are we also supposed to keep our children out of schools, off the...
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December 4, 2012
Nickelodeon prides itself on responsible TV programming for kids, but what about its marketing? It’s time for Nickelodeon to take responsibility and dump the junk. Tell Nickelodeon to dump the junk: bit.ly/dump-the-junk Studies show that food marketing causes children to want more and eat more of the foods marketed to them. There is a ton of marketing aimed at kids—about $2 billion worth a year. The problem is virtually all the foods marketed to kids are unhealthy. If companies were marketing apples and carrots, there wouldn’t be a problem. But instead, companies mostly market sugary cereals...
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September 6, 2012
It’s that time of year again. Kids are heading back to school, but they aren’t heading back to the same school lunch. In 2010, moms, advocates and Congress worked together to pass the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act and as a result, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has updated the nutrition standards for school lunches. With one out of every three children overweight or obese, 31 million children eating school lunch, and 15 years since the last update, it was time. Ensuring that school meals are healthy is important for children's health and, healthy children learn better. Starting this...
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