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New Study Shows
Power of Branding Kids
A new study in the
Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine
demonstrates just how effective food marketing is in changing
young children's perceptions. Researchers from Stanford
University found that preschool children think that foods that
come in a McDonald's wrapper taste better than the exact same
food in an unwrapped wrapper. Study author Dr. Tom Robinson
notes that McDonald's branding is so powerful that it actually
physically altered the children's perception of taste.
This morning, CCFC's
Susan Linn discussed the importance of the study and why we need
regulation of food marketing aimed at children on the Today
Show. You can watch the segment by
clicking here.
You can also learn
more about the study by reading this
article from the
Associated Press
(with a quote from CCFC's Diane Levin |
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Baby Einstein Debunked
Yesterday, an
important new study
found that for infants, every hour spent watching baby videos is
associated with slower language development - six to eight words
less on a standardized vocabulary test than babies who don't
watch. The study, by Frederick J. Zimmerman, Dimitri A.
Christakis, and Andrew Metzoff, appears in Journal of
Pediatrics.
Previous research suggested that television is not a good medium
for teaching language to babies. Now research shows that
infants (ages 8-16 months) who watch baby videos have a slower
rate of language acquisition than infants who do not. Not only
is there no evidence that baby videos do any of the things the
baby video industry claims they do, but these media may actually
be undermining the development of the very skills they claim to
foster.
In
2006, the Campaign for a
Commercial-Free Childhood filed a Federal
Trade Commission complaint against
Baby Einstein, Brainy Baby, and BabyFirstTV for false and
deceptive marketing. That complaint is under review. If you
have not yet done so, please take a moment to
urge the FTC to act on our complaint.
The number one reason parents allow babies to watch television
and DVDs is the mistaken belief that the programming is
educational and/or good for brain development. |
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Blackboards, not Billboards: Massachusetts School
Commercialism Bill Advances Out of Committee
Last week, the Massachusetts's Joint Committee on Public Health
recommended approval of the nation's strongest school
commercialism bill. H. 489, An Act Relative to the Public
Health Impact of Commercialism in Schools, would prohibit
advertising on public school grounds. You can learn more about
the bill - including the text of the bill and testimony from
CCFC members in support of the legislation - by
visiting here.
And if you live in Massachusetts, you'll be hearing from us soon
about what you can do to help get this historic legislation
passed! |
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