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The Facts about cereal nutrition and food marketing to children.

Published in “Journal Watch Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine”, November 15 2009

Cereal companies worldwide speak to children early through everything from TV advertising and product placement on their favourite foods and clothing to the DVD’s they watch and the games they play. Their campaigns are aggressive, direct and most dangerously they captivate children’s attention, often promising them a sense of fulfilment that cannot be met. The least healthy cereal companies are the worst culprits and their marketing strategies negatively influence children’s dietary choices which can lead to health issues as they grow older.

The Bad News: Children are exposed to a vast amount of marketing for highly-sugared cereals, more than for any other category of packaged food.

What was once a simple marketing landscape— television advertising during cartoons—has morphed into a complex web of persuasive messages even adults may not perceive as marketing. Internet games and marketing through social media such as Facebook are just the beginning and do not capture digital advances that will occur in the future.

The cereals marketed to children fail every reasonable nutrition test, yet according to the food industry are “better-for-you” foods. Eleven of the 13 cereals advertised most to children on television are also marketed heavily on the internet.

The Better News: It need not be this way. Most cereals marketed to children are high in sugar, high in sodium, and low in fiber. Many are highly colorful because of artificial dyes, making healthier cereals, very literally, pale in comparison. Yet, every cereal company does have products that earn good nutrition scores, but these are marketed to adults, not children.

Reinforcing the myth that children will not eat low-sugar cereals, the industry has funded a number of studies that find that highly- sweetened cereal is good for children, especially when compared to having no breakfast at all. Breakfast is good—make no mistake—but a breakfast with less sugar, more fiber, and less sodium will be better for children. A new study delivers good news. Research conducted at Yale* shows that children will eat low-sugar cereals when they are provided.

Children given low-sugar cereal ate the cereal in appropriate amounts, and even when allowed to add table sugar, consumed less sugar overall compared to children given highly-sweetened cereals (who ate twice the recommended serving size). Children liked their cereal equally whether it was highly sugared or not.

This comprehensive report is a first step in quantifying the marketing and nutrition impact of cereals marketed to children. The hope is that cereal companies, whether by choice or mandate, will make rapid and sustained progress toward marketing only healthy cereals, as defined by objective nutrition standards, to children and adolescents.

* Schwartz, M.B. Paper presented at the annual meeting of The Obesity Society, Washington, D.C., October, 2009

FACTS - the Food Advertising to Children and Teens Score – was developed by health researchers at Yale University. The Rudd Centre for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University recently compiled then “Nutrition and Marketing of Children’s Cereals” A summary of their findings are as follows:

Key Findings

• Compared to cereals marketed to adults, those marketed to children have 85% more sugar, 65% less fiber, and 60% more sodium. Together, cereal companies spend more than $156 million per year marketing to children.
• Of the ten cereals with the worst overall impact (nutrition and marketing scores combined), six are products from General Mills, three are from Kellogg, and one is from Post.
• The average preschooler sees 642 cereal ads per year just on television, almost all for cereals with the worst nutrition ratings.The Nielsen Company, 2008 data, “comScore Media Metrix Key Measures Report).
• Cereal company websites are highly engaging. Young people visiting the sites remain there a long time, an average of 23.7 minutes per visit in the case of Millsberry.com. Cereal products are often turned into toys or playthings on these sites and are associated with fun and in some cases, good health.
• Cereal companies have made only slight progress in reformulating their products, dropping the average sugar content of cereals marketed to children from three-and-a-half to three teaspoons of sugar per serving.
• The cereal companies all have products that receive good nutrition scores, but few are marketed to children. Research shows that children will eat the healthier cereals.

Recommendations

• Cereals marketed to children should meet objective nutrition standards that have children’s health as the aim. We recommend those used by the UK Food Standards Agency, which are based on research by scientists at Oxford University.
• If the food industry is to be considered a trustworthy public health partner, it must adopt meaningful standards that stop “gaming the system.” Self-regulatory pledges by the cereal companies have thus far been weak and have not shielded  children from a barrage of messages to eat the least healthy products. Self-regulation by industry should not forestall needed government action.
• Companies have made various pledges to market only healthier products in “children’s media,” but define this media so narrowly that vast numbers of children are exposed to marketing of the least healthy products while they are watching media not specifically targeted to children. Products failing to meet nutrition standards should not be marketed when either the percentage of children in an audience exceeds a defined level or the number of children in an audience reaches a defined level. Standards should be set by an objective body such as the Institute of Medicine.
• It is critical that efforts to decrease the harm done by marketing unhealthy foods to children do not inadvertently encourage companies to find new promotion strategies that fall outside of the monitoring radar. Companies should be held accountable for the impact of their products on children and for not having made meaningful changes through self- regulation. Government’s role is to define and monitor this harm in ways that ensure that companies make substantial improvements to the quality of products they sell and market for children’s consumption.

Top 10 most nutritional cereals:

1. Mini-Wheats Kellogg
2. Organic Wild Puffs Barbara’s Bakery
3. Honey Sunshine Kashi
4. Mighty Bites Kashi
5. Clifford Crunch Cascadian Farm
6. Hannah Montana Kellogg
7. Life Quaker
8. Kix General Mills
9. Cheerios (except Honey Nut) General Mills
10. Puffins Barbara’s Bakery

Find out more about Cereal FACTS here.

Published in “Journal Watch Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine“, November 15 2009. Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha

The Generation Next blog  is going on holidays for two weeks! A big thanks to all those who have helped make this year  so successful for Generation Next! The seminar series will return next year with more seminars in more locations around Australia, we look froward to seeing you there! Have a safe and happy holiday!

Generation Next Brisbane is on tomorrow! Speakers including Dr Michael Carr-Gregg  and Paul Dillon will talk on topics including drugs and alcohol, depression, cybersafety and sexualisation to a sold out auditorium in the University of Queensland.

If you’ve missed out you may like to subscribe to the newsletter to keep up with our regular updates or if you know of a school which might like to host a future seminar perhaps you’d like to contact Generation Next founder Dr Ramesh Manocha to organise a Generation Next seminar at your school.

In this guest post, Dr Jackie Curtis, a psychiatrist who actively works with young people with mental health problems at the Prince of Wales Hospital, and Dr Georgie Paulik, a clinical psychologist, explain how the onset of psychosis may be prevented or delayed in high-risk youths and describe some of the research which is currently being undertaken to understand more about the onset of psychosis.

Many changes take place in the developing brain, mind and body of adolescents. This process of change and maturation leaves adolescents particularly vulnerable to developing the unusual and often frightening symptoms associated with psychosis.  Some of the youths who have “odd” experiences, will go on to develop a psychotic illness, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, while others will not. It is not yet entirely clear who will and who will not go on to develop a psychotic illness, although research currently being conducted around the world, including a large-scale project running in NSW, is endeavouring to find out. Despite this paucity in understanding, effective and non-intrusive treatments aimed at preventing, or delaying, the transition to psychosis for youths identified to be “at-risk” are available.

Identifying who is at risk of developing psychosis is a critical step in preventing transition.  Large-scale studies have found that the most highly predictive risk factors for transition are a drop in functioning (i.e. marked social withdrawal, drop in academic functioning, increase in school or work truancy, and/or general low motivation), accompanied by any of the following: (1) a first degree relative (parent or sibling) with a psychotic illness; (2) brief or attenuated/sub-clinical odd or unusual beliefs/thoughts (i.e.  seeing special meaning in things around them, thinking that people are reading their mind or putting thoughts into their head, thinking that people are trying to harm them etc); (3) perceptual disturbances (i.e. things look/sound/smell/taste different, e.g. more or less vivid) or brief hallucinatory-type experiences; and/or (4) marked decrease or impairment in verbal, expressive communication skills. Youths meeting these criteria will often also have other mental health concerns, such as depression and anxiety. If while reading this someone you know comes to mind, they may be at risk of developing psychosis. Fortunately research findings show that there are a number of ways to prevent or delay the transition to psychosis.

It is imperative that first line treatments for individuals identified as being at-risk of psychosis are safe and have minimal side effects, since there is no certainty that without treatment these youths will transition. Thus, although research studies have found some evidence that antipsychotic and antidepressant medications can prevent, or at least delay, the onset of psychosis, the use of these medications should be reserved for youths who fail to respond to more gentle therapies or have more severe psychotic-like symptoms. The two safest, yet effective interventions are omega-3 fatty acids (“fish oil”) and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT). A recent study found that at one year follow-up, ultra-high risk youths who had been taking 1.2 g/d of fish oil daily were six times less likely to have transitioned to psychosis , had significantly less psychotic symptoms and higher over all functioning, than those youths who were not receiving treatment. Fish oils are safe to take regularly and have no common side effects. CBT – a type of talk therapy – has comparable positive effects in at-risk youths to that of fish oil, with reduced transition rates and fewer symptoms after 6 months of weekly therapy sessions (group or individual). CBT is a first line treatment for mood and anxiety disorders, and thus is often the first choice treatment for youths also suffering from these concerns. Medicare now covers most of the costs of seeing a clinical psychologist for CBT via referral from a GP.

A new youth-based service aimed at identifying and tracking youths who are at-risk of developing psychosis has recently opened its doors at Bondi Junction Community Health Centre (BJCHC). The team provide a comprehensive psychological assessment for appropriate referral s, and then on identifying the specific needs and risks of the client will make referrals to relevant youth services for treatment. For youths suspected of being at-risk, aged 14-24, and living in the Eastern Suburbs, referrals can be made through the Prince of Wales Acute Care Team (tel. 9366 8611). At-risk youths (both in and out of catchment area) can also participate in a large-scale Australian based research project being run at the BJCHC. The project aims to advance our understanding of the causes and risk factors of psychosis to assist early detection and intervention. Participants in the research project can learn about their own cognitive strengths to facilitate their learning, and are also financially reimbursed. For referrals to research or for more information, please contact Dr Georgie Paulik on 0401 661 806.

Writers Dr Jackie Curtis and Dr Georgie Paulik. Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha.

We are currently in the process of planning the 2010 Generation Next series. Thanks to your feedback we have learned a lot of lessons about how best to run the events and use the limited financial and other resources available to us.

Importantly, in 2010 we would like to explore the possibility of running the events at a school hall rather than in a commercial venue. This will allow us to use our limited funds for more important things such as advertising and supporting the stakeholder groups that work with us.

A group of approximately 20 schools in Canberra, for example, have teamed up to offer both a school hall and help with ticket sales to each of their school communities. We think this is a way for Generation Next’s important information to get to more people in a way that is not only financially viable but also allows local communities to develop a sense of ownership with regard to these important issues.

It will also allow us more versatility in terms of timing and location.

Our calculations show that we need to sell about 800-1000 tickets to make each Generation Next event viable. Therefore we need to find a school hall (or halls) in each city that can accommodate an audience of that size or more in relative comfort.

If you think that your school’s hall may be suitable to a Generation Next event and that your school may be interested in working with us then please do get in touch with us by  emailing me at r.manocha@healthed.com.au or at info@gennextseminars.com.

Your help with this matter is deeply appreciated.

Sincerely,

Dr Ramesh Manocha, MBBS, BSc (Med), PhD,

Founder, Generation Next.

This Thursday you have the opportunity to be part of the web-cast audience for the youTHINK: Live and Online forum. Part of the National Conversation organised by the Australian Government, the forum will run from 1pm-3pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time and encourages the audience to provide live feedback to the conversation.

The forum will focus on three topic areas:

• 1pm-1:32pm – Families and Communities
• 1:37pm-2:08pm – Education and Careers
• 2:13pm-2:40pm – Looking after yourself and others

You can register for the event here.

The National Conversation is part of the Australian Youth Forum and will help to shape future Government policy. The National Conversation features seven key goals:

• empowering young Australians in their schools, institutes of technology, and universities to shape their own futures
• supporting young Australians within their families
• mobilising young Australians within their communities
• enabling young Australians to participate safely and confidently online
• equipping young Australians with the skills and personal networks they need for employment
• strengthening early intervention with young Australians to help prevent any problems getting worse and to help young people get their lives back on track
• establishing clear cut legal consequences for behaviours that endanger the safety of others.

For more information on the forum check the www.youth.gov.au site.

Writer Tristan Boyd, Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha.

‘Sexting’, the sending and receiving of sexually explicit images via mobile phones or other applications such as instant messaging, email or through social networking sites has, until recently, gone largely unreported. What is concerning about the activity is its rapidly increasing popularity. It was often an extension of ‘I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.’ Explicit images are also often taken when the victim was not in a position to make a good decision, such as at a party where large amounts of alcohol have been consumed.

Females, from as young as thirteen, are willingly filming themselves or readily agreeing to be filmed by their friends and then allowing the images to be sent to other people or posted into cyberspace. Adolescents cannot comprehend, nor are they aware of, the actual consequences of their actions. Once in cyberspace these images can never be erased and can be transmitted around the world in a very short space of time. The reality is that these images could very well find their way onto the computers of those with a predilection to engage in sexual acts with children.

Cyberspace is not age appropriate and emergent behaviours are not developmentally aligned. Parents too must be prepared to discuss this issue with their children, prior to secondary school as these behaviours are regularly seen at Year 7 level. They must also provide adequate guidance as often young people are handed the technology with little or no instruction from a suitable adult. It is imperative that adults embrace technology for the valuable tool that it is and engage with children in cyberspace as well as in the real world. Teachers and other professionals must be educated so that they are able to guide and assist the children in their care. Most importantly, young people must be given the opportunity to gain the knowledge and skills to safely navigate cyberspace, to identify risks and take appropriate steps to keep themselves safe. Cyberspace is permanent. Once images have been posted, they are there forever and no one can get them back. ‘Sexting is like a new puppy… it’s not just for Christmas, it’s for life!

Writer Susan McLean, Cyber Safety Expert, Generation Next speaker and director of Cybersafety Solutions. Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha.

I often get asked questions like ‘what can I do?’ about the sexualisation of children.

I think the key to change is collective grass-roots action so here are just a few ideas that may help you start your own local campaign:

• Ask your local video store manager to move the ‘adult only’ section away from the children’s, family and comedy sections. Surprisingly, this is not an uncommon arrangement.

• Ask your supermarket to stop displaying sexualised magazines such as Ralph, Zoo and FHM where children are easily exposed. Also, ask your newsagent to stop displaying advertising for these magazines in their windows.

• Approach store managers to complain about sexualised merchandise that is either aimed at children or displayed where children are likely to view it.

• I have often been surprised at many retailers’ willingness to make changes once their awareness has been raised. So speaking up does make a difference. It’s a good idea to say that child development professionals are very concerned about the negative impacts of sexualisation and that increasing research backs up those concerns.

• Take a moment to become familiar with the Advertising Standards Board website and utilise it to make complaints. Remember, billboards are not screened before going into the public arena – a complaint must be registered before the Board will take action.

• Ring the TV stations if you are unhappy with advertising or content in hours in which children are likely to be viewing. Remember it is up to you what you let into your home. If you don’t want your children exposed to certain content explain to them why you want them to switch the TV off.

• If there are certain toys or dolls that you don’t want your children to receive as presents, tell your friends. Many parents are starting to say no to Bratz dolls, no to makeup parties for young girls, and no to logo T-shirts such as ‘I’m too sexy for my t-shirt’.

• Some parents are concerned that their children’s dance class routines are emulating the sexualised moves of music video clips. Talk to the dance school if this is a problem.

• Get together with a group of like minded people who are concerned, and discuss ways you could make a difference. It only takes one to start.

• Speak to your local MPs to see if the issue of sexualisation is on their agenda. The ALP have recently written into their policy to “work towards developing strategies to prevent and reduce the damage being caused by the increased sexualisation of children in the media and popular culture.” (Chapter 7: Securing an inclusive future for all Australians – Young Australians). We need to make politicians accountable. We want to see what action they are going to take.

• I have received numerous complaints from parents who are concerned about music video clips in bowling alleys. If you are concerned, you can speak to the manager and say something like:
  “I’m wondering if you have any protocol or guidelines about when you show sexualised music videos – I’m concerned about the young children here who are being exposed to very grown up content. There is quite a lot of research now that shows that music videos have a very negative impact on young girls self esteem. Is there any chance you would consider changing your program?”
  A friendly approach is often the first best step.

• People have emailed me to let me know the results of speaking up. Here is a great suggestion from Jacquie N:
  “Hi…I spoke to the staff at my local library about the adult magazines on the shelf where kids can see them, they agreed … I have noticed some of the more adult ones, Ralph etc., seem to have disappeared.  Has anyone else noticed these magazines in their libraries, and if so, are they out of the sight of young ones?”

For more information visit the Kids Free 2B Kids website at www.kf2bk.com or The Australia Council on Children and the Media at www.youngmedia.org.au.

Writer Julie Gale, director of Kids Free 2B Kids and Generation Next speaker. Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha.

You can now subscribe to the Generation Next e-newsletter!

The newsletter will feature articles from our speakers, including Dr Michael Carr-Gregg talking about depression and Susan McLean talking about cybersafety, and will also provide you with updates and alerts regarding the Generation Next seminar series. The featured articles will discuss the unique challenges facing generations Y and Z, arming you with strategies and solutions to help our young people achieve their full potential. The first publication will be sent out next week.

You can subscribe to the newsletter at our homepage.

Writer Tristan Boyd, Editor Ramesh Manocha.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has relaunched its Cybersmart website with an aim to educate kids, parents and teachers on how to safely use the internet. It features three sites for different age groups of children, as well as sites for parents, libraries and schools.

“The world online is powerful and engaging for young people and adults alike, offering a wealth of opportunity. The Cybersmart program enables children, parents, carers, teachers and library staff to manage online risks, so their experiences are safe and positive.

“The Cybersmart program aims to:
• Inform children, parents, teachers and library staff about cybersafety issues
• Educate audiences through information, resources and practical advice
• Empower children to be safe online.”

The website can be found at www.cybersmart.gov.au.

Sourced by Tristan Boyd, Editor Ramesh Manocha.