It’s an interesting question. As a parent, I’m not particularly concerned, because my children have never had a Happy Meal or ever eaten at McDonald’s. (Sigh. If only I were that kind of parent…)
On Tuesday, Santa Clara, California county supervisors approved a measure banning promotional toys with high-calorie meals. Sharon Bernstein‘s story in the Los Angeles Times gives us a quote from one of the supervisors who supported it, and follows that with not just the routine rejoinder from the opposition, but a quote from Supervisor Donald Gage that raises an interesting question:
Gage, who is overweight, said he was a living example of how obese children can become obese adults.
But he questioned the role of fast-food toys. “When I was growing up in Gilroy 65 years ago, there were no fast-food restaurants,” Gage said.
Now that Bernstein has neatly raised that question for us, we expect an answer. Do fast-food toys contribute to obesity? And will the Santa Clara ordinance trim Santa Clara kids?
And she does give us a bit of an answer. I was delighted to see that she interviewed somebody with expertise on the issue, a doctor at a local clinic who directs a program on child obesity. He says the toys are a powerful lure for kids, which we don’t need an expert to tell us. Nevertheless, Bernstein made some attempt to address the question.
In a slightly longer and more comprehensive story, Justin Berton of the San Francisco Chronicle quotes five or six people, giving us a better idea of the reaction to the ordinance. But, again, he evidently feels under no compulsion to call an obesity researcher to see whether anyone knows whether this will help reduce obesity in kids.
Nor do others:
Jesse McKinley in The New York Times: Citing Obesity of Children, County Bans Fast-Food Toys. McKinley cites the Institute of Medicine and cites local and national obesity statistics, but doesn’t tell use whether removing toys will make any difference.
Brooke Donald on the AP wire: California county trims toys in meal to cut fat. What do we have here? Ah, a little background! A little context! Donald notes that a study by the Center for Science in the Public Interest found that many meals that come with toys exceed caloric guidelines. CSPI isn’t an impartial source, but Donald deserves credit for adding some background. The AP also called Burger King, easing some of the unfair, single-minded focus on McDonald’s in other stories.
San Jose Business Journal: Toy incentives barred from kids’ meals. It’s often interesting to look at the trades to get a different view. I didn’t find too much that was novel in this short story, except for this fact: “In 2006, the Federal Trade Commission estimated that restaurants sold 1.2 billion meals accompanied by toys to children under 12.” That doesn’t address the question of whether the toys are harmful, but it raises the urgency of the question.
Also, how much petroleum was consumed in the manufacture of 1.2 billion plastic toys?
– Paul Raeburn
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