Sec. 2. Findings

346 words·~2 min read·/bill/113/s/2342/is/section-2

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

Congress finds the following: Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years. Currently, more than one-third of children and adolescents are overweight or obese. A report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that if the population of the United States continues on its current trajectory, adult obesity rates could exceed 60 percent in a number of States by 2030. Health-related behaviors, such as eating habits and physical activity patterns, develop early in life and often extend into adulthood.

The diets of American children and adolescents depart substantially from recommended patterns that put their health at risk. Overall, American children and youth are not achieving basic nutritional goals. They are consuming excess calories and added sugars and have higher than recommended intakes of sodium, total fat, and saturated fats. Budgets for food marketing to children have spiked into the billions of dollars. According to a 2012 report from the Federal Trade Commission, the total amount spent on food marketing to children is about $2 billion a year.

Companies market food to children through television, radio, Internet, magazines, product placement in movies and video games, schools, product packages, toys, clothing and other merchandise, and almost anywhere a logo or product image can be shown. According to a comprehensive review by the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine, studies demonstrate that television food advertising affects children’s food choices, food purchase requests, diets, and health. A 2005 report from the Institute of Medicine confirmed that aggressive marketing of high-calorie foods to children and adolescents has been identified as one of the major contributors to childhood obesity .

Nearly three-quarters of the foods advertised on television shows intended for children are for sweets and convenience or fast foods. A study published in the Journal of Law and Economics and funded by the National Institutes of Health found that the elimination of the tax deduction that allows companies to deduct costs associated with advertising food of poor nutritional quality to children could reduce the rates of childhood obesity by 5 to 7 percent.