Obesity - McDonald's Makes Ronald a Health Ambassador + Brazil Newspaper Slams NY Times + Mc suit + Study: Cancer+ EU to Start Taking Obe Seriously
McDonald's Makes Ronald a Health Ambassador Criticized Company Will Use Character to Push Fitness in Schools
By Caroline E. MayerWashington Post Staff WriterFriday, January 28, 2005; Page E01
McDonald's Corp., known for its Big Macs and fries, is sending its flame-headed mascot, Ronald McDonald, into elementary schools to push fitness -- part of a corporate campaign to address the childhood obesity issue.
Ronald, the company's newly dubbed "chief happiness officer," has become the company's "ambassador for an active, balanced lifestyle," McDonald's Chief Creative Officer Marlena Peleo-Lazar told a government panel yesterday. Her announcement came the same week an appeals court reinstated a lawsuit against McDonald's in which two New York teenagers claim they got fat because the company hid the health risks of its food.
Other major food companies also are promoting fitness in schools. Last fall, PepsiCo Inc. sent fitness educational materials to elementary schools, reaching 3 million students. In March, the beverage and snack-food company will send another round, this time to all 15,000 middle schools in the country.
These educational programs were discussed at a day-long workshop sponsored by the Institute of Medicine, which Congress directed to study the impact of food marketing on childhood obesity and healthful eating.
The study comes as a growing number of health care professionals and consumer activists are calling for more government oversight of food advertising because the number of obese children has more than doubled in the past 30 years.
Several major food companies are responding to the concerns by reformulating many of their food products and developing or adding new ones to offer more healthful alternatives, such as reduced-sugar cereal. McDonald's, for example, has added milk and apples to its kids' menu. Meanwhile, Kraft announced earlier this month that it will curb advertising of many of its snack foods to children under 12.
The food industry is seeking legislation to block lawsuits, such as the one just reinstated against McDonald's. The Virginia House of Delegates did just that yesterday, strengthening existing law by approving a bill saying state residents can't blame their weight gain on food companies.
In the past, the Ronald McDonald character has visited schools to teach about such issues as bike safety and literacy. Now the clown will be touting physical activity. No burgers or fries will be promoted. "Ronald does not promote food, but fun and activity -- the McDonald's experience," said company spokesman Walt Riker.
The campaign was criticized by Harvard psychologist Susan Linn, author of "Consuming Kids."
"It's just another marketing ploy for McDonald's," she said. "It has no place in the school. The amount of exercise it will take to exercise off everything these kids consume will take all day."
The program has been reviewed and approved by the American Academy of Pediatrics. "We're not endorsing McDonald's or Ronald McDonald, but wanted to make sure the message was safe and appropriate," said Reginald L. Washington, co-chairman of the academy's task force on obesity. The program, he said, "takes advantage of the fact that Ronald McDonald has such recognition with kids that if he tells them to get moving, maybe they will do it."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43011-2005Jan27.html?referrer=email
Brazil Newspaper Slams NY Times Over Obesity Story
ReutersThursday, January 27, 2005; 5:11 PM
SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) - A Brazilian newspaper on Thursday accused the New York Times of illustrating a story on obesity in Brazil with a picture of three flabby-looking Czech women on a beach famed for its shapely local beauties.
The Times story went to the heart of Brazil's self-image as a place of sunny sexiness and was the second in less than a year to provoke strong criticism in Brazil, where the globally influential newspaper's coverage has faced heavy scrutiny by local media.
The Jan. 13 story by correspondent Larry Rohter was based on a government study that said more than 40 per cent of Brazilians are overweight.
It noted that Brazil's "gifts to global culture" included the Girl from Ipanema and the thong, or "tanga," bikini.
The photograph, by John Maier, showed three overweight women in bikinis on Rio de Janeiro's Ipanema Beach.
However, according to Globo newspaper, the women were not Brazilians but Czech tourists. "Certainly I am not a girl from Ipanema. I am a woman of a certain age," 59-year-old Milena Suchoparkova told Globo in an interview.
"I think I'm overweight but I never was skinny. I was always robust but I wouldn't say I was obese," said Suchoparkova, Czech-born but a naturalized Italian.
Globo, one of Brazil's biggest dailies, ran its story under the headline "New York Times Screw-up." It ran a separate article on Rohter and questioned the Times' ethics and credibility.
Suchoparkova and her friends were upset because, they told Globo, the photographer had not asked their permission before taking the shot. They were not mentioned in the story itself.
Rohter declined to comment to Reuters. A New York Times foreign desk staffer said the newspaper would run a statement in Friday's edition.
Last May, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ordered Rohter's visa canceled after he wrote an article that many Brazilians were concerned by Lula's drinking habits.
Lula reversed the decision under pressure from domestic and international media groups, and the Human Rights Watch advocacy group cited the government's reaction to the drinking story as a threat to freedom of expression.
© 2005 Reuters
Part of McDonald's Obesity Suit Revived
ReutersTuesday, January 25, 2005; 6:00 PM
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Tuesday reinstated part of a widely watched obesity suit against McDonald's Corp. that accused the world's biggest fast-food company of using misleading advertising to lure children into eating unhealthy foods that make them fat.
In 2003, a trial judge threw out the complaint saying that the plaintiffs failed to provide information showing a link between eating McDonald's products and their injuries.
However, in its ruling, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals said that the information could be provided during a later part of court proceedings and did not need to be included in the initial pleadings.
It said it was sending the case back to the trial judge for further proceedings.
"We are confident this frivolous suit will once again be dismissed," McDonald's said.
Study: Obesity May Hinder Cancer Screening
By DANIEL YEEThe Associated PressMonday, January 24, 2005; 7:19 AM
ATLANTA - A new study suggests a man's weight may affect the accuracy of a common test to detect prostate cancer, leading researchers to warn that doctors could be missing the dangerous cancer in obese men.
Researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio studied 2,779 men without prostate cancer between 2001-04. In the study released online Monday in the journal Cancer, they reported finding that the more obese the men were, the lower their levels of prostate-specific antigen or PSA. A PSA of 4.0 or lower usually means no cancer.
Previous studies have shown that prostate cancer is more aggressive in obese men than in men of average weight. The researchers wanted to see if the cancer's detection was somehow being delayed in obese men.
The Texas study found that the most morbidly obese men had about 30 percent lower PSA levels than men of normal weight.
"That tells us it's likely or it's possible that prostate cancer detection may be delayed in overweight or obese men," said Jacques Baillargeon, associate professor of epidemiology at the health science center.
The research may encourage many doctors to take a closer look at the tests of obese men.
"For sure, I will be more vigilant in my patients who are obese in evaluating their PSA," said Dr. Nelson Stone of Mount Sinai School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study. "We may be losing some of the sensitivity of the test in the obese patient in our ability to detect prostate cancer. We may have to set our sights lower."
The antigen used in the screening test is made by normal prostate cells and is measured in blood. The higher the antigen level, the more likely the chance of prostate cancer, as the cells multiply uncontrollably, according to the American Cancer Society.
But having high PSA levels is not a definitive diagnosis of cancer, which is why the Atlanta-based society recommends men with high PSA levels have a biopsy.
The latest study builds on previous research released in May in the New England Journal of Medicine that found that men with a "normal" PSA actually had cancer 15 percent of the time and that two-thirds of those men with cancer had aggressive cases.
The Texas study did not explain why obese men have lower PSA levels. But doctors believe obese men produce more estrogen, which drives down testosterone levels and could affect cells that produce the antigen used in the test.
----
On the Net:
American Cancer Society:http://www.cancer.org
EU to Start Taking Obesity Seriously
By RAF CASERTThe Associated PressThursday, January 20, 2005; 8:28 PM
BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Union said Thursday it will bring the food and advertising industry together with health officials to contain the increasing problem of obesity in Europe, where one out of every four children is obese.
As part of the policy, EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou wants to keep junk food ads away from children.
"The idea is that, along with other policies and action, children are protected from direct marketing and advertising convincing them and inducing them to consume too much of this product," he said in an interview with Associated Press Television News.
Kyprianou also called for a special forum on obesity in March, which would set self-regulatory standards by the end of the year. In initial talks on the issue, the industry has been cooperative, officials said.
The challenge is growing by the year, Kyprianou said. "One in every four children is obese. this mean future health problems," he said, highlighting the problems were worst in southern Europe.
The Commissioner fears the 25-nation European Union will be going the same way as the United States. "We made fun of Americans in a way. It is a European problem now," Kyprianou said in an interview with London's Financial Times.
The European Food Safety Authority found last year that Europeans eat less of the most dangerous, cholesterol-raising fats than Americans do, and the amount is decreasing. Still, children keep getting fatter in Europe.
In the United States, authorities have already ordered food companies to produce more detailed labeling to warn consumers of dangerous, fattening products.
There is pressure for the EU to do the same and there are already anti-obesity drives in several EU nations.
France has banned soda and junk food vending machines from schools.
In most European countries, more than half of the population is overweight or obese. Countries in central and eastern Europe, which joined the European Union this month, have the worst problem, according to the International Obesity Task Force.
By Caroline E. MayerWashington Post Staff WriterFriday, January 28, 2005; Page E01
McDonald's Corp., known for its Big Macs and fries, is sending its flame-headed mascot, Ronald McDonald, into elementary schools to push fitness -- part of a corporate campaign to address the childhood obesity issue.
Ronald, the company's newly dubbed "chief happiness officer," has become the company's "ambassador for an active, balanced lifestyle," McDonald's Chief Creative Officer Marlena Peleo-Lazar told a government panel yesterday. Her announcement came the same week an appeals court reinstated a lawsuit against McDonald's in which two New York teenagers claim they got fat because the company hid the health risks of its food.
Other major food companies also are promoting fitness in schools. Last fall, PepsiCo Inc. sent fitness educational materials to elementary schools, reaching 3 million students. In March, the beverage and snack-food company will send another round, this time to all 15,000 middle schools in the country.
These educational programs were discussed at a day-long workshop sponsored by the Institute of Medicine, which Congress directed to study the impact of food marketing on childhood obesity and healthful eating.
The study comes as a growing number of health care professionals and consumer activists are calling for more government oversight of food advertising because the number of obese children has more than doubled in the past 30 years.
Several major food companies are responding to the concerns by reformulating many of their food products and developing or adding new ones to offer more healthful alternatives, such as reduced-sugar cereal. McDonald's, for example, has added milk and apples to its kids' menu. Meanwhile, Kraft announced earlier this month that it will curb advertising of many of its snack foods to children under 12.
The food industry is seeking legislation to block lawsuits, such as the one just reinstated against McDonald's. The Virginia House of Delegates did just that yesterday, strengthening existing law by approving a bill saying state residents can't blame their weight gain on food companies.
In the past, the Ronald McDonald character has visited schools to teach about such issues as bike safety and literacy. Now the clown will be touting physical activity. No burgers or fries will be promoted. "Ronald does not promote food, but fun and activity -- the McDonald's experience," said company spokesman Walt Riker.
The campaign was criticized by Harvard psychologist Susan Linn, author of "Consuming Kids."
"It's just another marketing ploy for McDonald's," she said. "It has no place in the school. The amount of exercise it will take to exercise off everything these kids consume will take all day."
The program has been reviewed and approved by the American Academy of Pediatrics. "We're not endorsing McDonald's or Ronald McDonald, but wanted to make sure the message was safe and appropriate," said Reginald L. Washington, co-chairman of the academy's task force on obesity. The program, he said, "takes advantage of the fact that Ronald McDonald has such recognition with kids that if he tells them to get moving, maybe they will do it."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43011-2005Jan27.html?referrer=email
Brazil Newspaper Slams NY Times Over Obesity Story
ReutersThursday, January 27, 2005; 5:11 PM
SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) - A Brazilian newspaper on Thursday accused the New York Times of illustrating a story on obesity in Brazil with a picture of three flabby-looking Czech women on a beach famed for its shapely local beauties.
The Times story went to the heart of Brazil's self-image as a place of sunny sexiness and was the second in less than a year to provoke strong criticism in Brazil, where the globally influential newspaper's coverage has faced heavy scrutiny by local media.
The Jan. 13 story by correspondent Larry Rohter was based on a government study that said more than 40 per cent of Brazilians are overweight.
It noted that Brazil's "gifts to global culture" included the Girl from Ipanema and the thong, or "tanga," bikini.
The photograph, by John Maier, showed three overweight women in bikinis on Rio de Janeiro's Ipanema Beach.
However, according to Globo newspaper, the women were not Brazilians but Czech tourists. "Certainly I am not a girl from Ipanema. I am a woman of a certain age," 59-year-old Milena Suchoparkova told Globo in an interview.
"I think I'm overweight but I never was skinny. I was always robust but I wouldn't say I was obese," said Suchoparkova, Czech-born but a naturalized Italian.
Globo, one of Brazil's biggest dailies, ran its story under the headline "New York Times Screw-up." It ran a separate article on Rohter and questioned the Times' ethics and credibility.
Suchoparkova and her friends were upset because, they told Globo, the photographer had not asked their permission before taking the shot. They were not mentioned in the story itself.
Rohter declined to comment to Reuters. A New York Times foreign desk staffer said the newspaper would run a statement in Friday's edition.
Last May, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ordered Rohter's visa canceled after he wrote an article that many Brazilians were concerned by Lula's drinking habits.
Lula reversed the decision under pressure from domestic and international media groups, and the Human Rights Watch advocacy group cited the government's reaction to the drinking story as a threat to freedom of expression.
© 2005 Reuters
Part of McDonald's Obesity Suit Revived
ReutersTuesday, January 25, 2005; 6:00 PM
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Tuesday reinstated part of a widely watched obesity suit against McDonald's Corp. that accused the world's biggest fast-food company of using misleading advertising to lure children into eating unhealthy foods that make them fat.
In 2003, a trial judge threw out the complaint saying that the plaintiffs failed to provide information showing a link between eating McDonald's products and their injuries.
However, in its ruling, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals said that the information could be provided during a later part of court proceedings and did not need to be included in the initial pleadings.
It said it was sending the case back to the trial judge for further proceedings.
"We are confident this frivolous suit will once again be dismissed," McDonald's said.
Study: Obesity May Hinder Cancer Screening
By DANIEL YEEThe Associated PressMonday, January 24, 2005; 7:19 AM
ATLANTA - A new study suggests a man's weight may affect the accuracy of a common test to detect prostate cancer, leading researchers to warn that doctors could be missing the dangerous cancer in obese men.
Researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio studied 2,779 men without prostate cancer between 2001-04. In the study released online Monday in the journal Cancer, they reported finding that the more obese the men were, the lower their levels of prostate-specific antigen or PSA. A PSA of 4.0 or lower usually means no cancer.
Previous studies have shown that prostate cancer is more aggressive in obese men than in men of average weight. The researchers wanted to see if the cancer's detection was somehow being delayed in obese men.
The Texas study found that the most morbidly obese men had about 30 percent lower PSA levels than men of normal weight.
"That tells us it's likely or it's possible that prostate cancer detection may be delayed in overweight or obese men," said Jacques Baillargeon, associate professor of epidemiology at the health science center.
The research may encourage many doctors to take a closer look at the tests of obese men.
"For sure, I will be more vigilant in my patients who are obese in evaluating their PSA," said Dr. Nelson Stone of Mount Sinai School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study. "We may be losing some of the sensitivity of the test in the obese patient in our ability to detect prostate cancer. We may have to set our sights lower."
The antigen used in the screening test is made by normal prostate cells and is measured in blood. The higher the antigen level, the more likely the chance of prostate cancer, as the cells multiply uncontrollably, according to the American Cancer Society.
But having high PSA levels is not a definitive diagnosis of cancer, which is why the Atlanta-based society recommends men with high PSA levels have a biopsy.
The latest study builds on previous research released in May in the New England Journal of Medicine that found that men with a "normal" PSA actually had cancer 15 percent of the time and that two-thirds of those men with cancer had aggressive cases.
The Texas study did not explain why obese men have lower PSA levels. But doctors believe obese men produce more estrogen, which drives down testosterone levels and could affect cells that produce the antigen used in the test.
----
On the Net:
American Cancer Society:http://www.cancer.org
EU to Start Taking Obesity Seriously
By RAF CASERTThe Associated PressThursday, January 20, 2005; 8:28 PM
BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Union said Thursday it will bring the food and advertising industry together with health officials to contain the increasing problem of obesity in Europe, where one out of every four children is obese.
As part of the policy, EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou wants to keep junk food ads away from children.
"The idea is that, along with other policies and action, children are protected from direct marketing and advertising convincing them and inducing them to consume too much of this product," he said in an interview with Associated Press Television News.
Kyprianou also called for a special forum on obesity in March, which would set self-regulatory standards by the end of the year. In initial talks on the issue, the industry has been cooperative, officials said.
The challenge is growing by the year, Kyprianou said. "One in every four children is obese. this mean future health problems," he said, highlighting the problems were worst in southern Europe.
The Commissioner fears the 25-nation European Union will be going the same way as the United States. "We made fun of Americans in a way. It is a European problem now," Kyprianou said in an interview with London's Financial Times.
The European Food Safety Authority found last year that Europeans eat less of the most dangerous, cholesterol-raising fats than Americans do, and the amount is decreasing. Still, children keep getting fatter in Europe.
In the United States, authorities have already ordered food companies to produce more detailed labeling to warn consumers of dangerous, fattening products.
There is pressure for the EU to do the same and there are already anti-obesity drives in several EU nations.
France has banned soda and junk food vending machines from schools.
In most European countries, more than half of the population is overweight or obese. Countries in central and eastern Europe, which joined the European Union this month, have the worst problem, according to the International Obesity Task Force.
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