Welcome to the Healthy Halloween blog carnival with MomsRising and Center for Science in the Public Interest! 

Halloween is a wonderful day for kids--and for moms and dads as well!  But none of us want to take on a Halloween-size mountain of candy each of the 365 days a year.  Imagine the stomach aches, the dental bills, and the doctor visits.  

That’s why today, bloggers across the country are speaking up against the constant stream of junk food advertising that's aimed at our children each and every day of the year.

Scroll down to see these terrific blog posts.

This is a haunting matter.  A Federal Trade Commission report found that companies spent $1.79 billion in 2009 on advertising food just to kids.  This means that despite our best efforts to protect them, kids are overwhelmed by junk food marketing in grocery store aisles, on their favorite television programs, on their cell phones, and even in their schools.  

Haunted Houses, full of goblins and ghosts, are not even a bit as scary as the amount of junk food marketing that is targeted at children in our nation.

We can change this!  Moms are a powerful voice for consumers, particularly since we make the majority of purchasing decisions. Raising our voices to a few key companies urging them to change their junk food marketing practices can make a huge difference.  And reaching out to just a few companies to urge them to update their junk food marketing practices could have a big impact on the amount of junk food marketing that our children are exposed to each day.  For example, a 2013 Yale Rudd Center study of advertising on children’s television stations found that, “Nickelodeon was responsible for more than one-quarter of food ads viewed by children 8 and younger. In addition, one Nickelodeon program, SpongeBob SquarePants, delivered 12% of all food ads viewed by 2- to 5-year olds and 11% of ads viewed by 6- to 8-year olds.”

So as we celebrate the magic of Halloween, let's also spook companies like Nickelodeon which are undermining the efforts of parents everywhere to create healthy eating habits by taking a moment to read the below blogs and consider the rippling impact of junk food marketing to kids--and then taking a moment to sign on to our petition to tell Nickelodeon to adopt standards like those already adopted by companies like Disney to limit junk food marketing to kids.

Scroll down this webpage to see a diverse cross section of voices talking about the need to curb junk food advertising to our kids--and, after you check out the blogs, feel free to also take a moment to share your thoughts in a comment (or two!).  

 Margo Wootan,
Companies Should Support Parents, Not Undermine Them

 

Alexander Elizabeth, Mom and Lifestyle Blogger
Give Back & Have a Healthier Halloween

 

Eileen Campos, Blogger, Teacher, and Mom
Healthy and Creative Alternatives For Halloween

 

Lori Dorfman, Director at Berkeley Media Studies Group
Food Marketing to Kids: Real Progress Requires Better Protections

 

Jeannette Bezinque, Mom and Lifestyle Blogger
25 Halloween Candy Alternatives that Won’t Make you Scream

 

Pamela Mejia, Blogger
How Big Food Is Targeting My Toddler

 

Xavier Morales, Director for the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California
Bubbling Over—Sugary Beverages, Diabetes and Latinos

 

Dr. Amelie Ramirez, Salud America
Junk Food Marketing’s Contribution to Latino Childhood Obesity

 

Sabrina Adler, Staff Attorney, National Policy & Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity (NPLAN)
Three Ways to Protect Kids from Junk Food Ads at School

 

Sarah Heflin, Mom Blogger
Surviving Halloween with Healthy Halloween Treats

 

Kate Uslan, Writer for the Alliance for a Healthier Generation
Mom vs. Sugar

 

Carolyn Torella, AHA Regional Communications Director of the American Heart Association
12 Tips to Stay Heart-Healthy This Halloween