A Stitch in Haste

Kraft Foods (a former corporate sibling of Philip Morris) has found caloric religion:

Kraft Foods Inc. Wednesday said it would stop advertising products like Oreo cookies and Kool-Aid beverages to children younger than 12 as it works to deflect criticism that such foods contribute to childhood obesity.

The move means ads for some of Kraft's best-known snack foods and sugary cereals will no longer appear during television shows such as cartoons, which are viewed primarily by children ages 6 to 11. The change will also affect advertising in radio and print media, Kraft said.

"We recognize that parents are concerned about the mix of food products being advertised to younger children," Mark Berlind, Kraft's executive vice president of global corporate affairs, said in a statement.

Increased media focus on the roughly 15 percent of U.S. children and adolescents and two-thirds of adults who are overweight has led Kraft in the last year to remove artery-clogging trans fats from its snack foods, repackage some in 100-calorie packs, and cease its marketing in schools.

Such moves by Kraft and others in the food industry, which in 2003 saw McDonald's Corp. become the target of a high-profile obesity lawsuit, help insulate companies from litigation blaming specific foods for making people, and particularly children, fat, one expert said.

"The whole area of child nutrition is one where you want to be squeaky clean," said Bob Goldin, executive vice president with food industry research firm Technomic. "That's where there is concern about liability, and certainly public scrutiny."

Of course, the fact that the problem regarding child obesity is not so much the commercials on television, but the television itself, is conveniently ignored. Obese children on average consume the same calories as non-obese kids -- they just exercise less.

But who cares? Parents are off the hook, schools are off the hook, politicians were of course never on the hook in the first place, and now the food companies, seeing a shining lawsuit on a hill, will get off the hook.

The kids, meanwhile, will still get hooked on junk food and will still get fat.

And by the way, I predict that the next target will be those impulse racks at supermarket checkout aisles brimming with candy bars.

Also, a related story today:

Newly revised dietary guidelines issued today by the federal government place a stronger emphasis on calorie control and physical activity than past guidelines to help Americans, many of them overweight, maintain good health.

Balancing nutrients is not enough for a healthy life style, Tommy G. Thompson, the secretary of the department of Health and Human Services, and Ann M. Veneman, the agriculture secretary, said today in announcing the new guidelines. The two secretaries said too many Americans are consuming too much food, pointing out that almost two-thirds of all Americans are overweight or obese.

The new Dietary Guidelines for Americans advises people to reduce their intake, and to exercise for 30 minutes a day to maintain good health, as had past reports. To prevent "gradual, unhealthy body weight gain in adulthood," it recommends exercising 60 minutes per day, and up to 90 minutes for weight loss in adults.

Maybe they should run commercials on children's television.