Title: Junk Food Commercials
Producer: Emily Halevy
Feed: CWKN #384, May 7, 2008
Time:1:26
SUGGESTED LEAD:  THE NUMBER OF OVERWEIGHT KIDS HAS DOUBLED SINCE 1980, ACCORDING TO THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS.  WHY?  SOME BLAME THE LONG, INACTIVE HOURS THEY SPEND WATCHING T-V… BUT NEW RESEARCH SUGGESTS IT MAY BE LESS ABOUT HOW MUCH THEY’RE WATCHING AND MORE ABOUT WHAT THEY'RE WATCHING.  THAT STORY IN TODAY’S CONNECT WITH KIDS REPORT.
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Nats:  watching TV (:00)

NARR:  SINCE 7-YEAR-OLD JAKE WAS TWO… IF HE SAW SOMETHING ON T-V HE WANTED…. (:05)

SOT: Eve Jones, Jake’s Mother (:09)
“He would point to stuff and say mama, mama…

SOT: Jake, 7 years old (:11)
“Mom! Mommy! Come here fast I want you to look at this!”

SOT: Eve Jones, Jake’s Mother (:15)
“Sometimes it’s food, sometimes it’s toys.”

NARR:  AND WHEN IT IS FOOD… (:02)

SOT: Eve Jones, Jake’s Mother (:19)
“It’s always not the healthiest stuff in the world; it’s the stuff with all the food dye, and bright colored stuff … the stuff with all the sugar in it.”

NARR: THE MORE TV THAT KIDS WATCH, THE MORE LIKELY THEY ARE TO BE OVERWEIGHT. BUT IS THAT BECAUSE THEY GET TOO LITTLE EXERCISE?

NOT NECESSARILY. 

ACCORDING TO THE CENTER FOR SCIENCE IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST, NINE OUT OF TEN
FOOD ADS ON SATURDAY MORNING TV ARE FOR FOODS LOW IN NUTRIENTS AND HIGH IN FAT AND SUGAR. (:20)

SOT: Rachel Brandeis, American Dietetic Association (:47)
“I think it is a huge impact, and parents cannot overlook the persuasiveness of TV. They don’t understand that it is … this is the show; this is a commercial. They’re trying to sell you a product. It all runs together.”

SOT: Jake, 7 years old (1:00)
“Yeah, whenever I see people like drink something or eat something, I go like ‘mom, can I have something to eat? I’m kind of hungry’.”

NARR: TODAY KIDS SEE 40,000 COMMERCIALS A YEAR … TWICE WHAT KIDS SAW A GENERATION AGO.

EXPERTS SAY PARENTS CAN HELP BY LIMITING SCREEN TIME … AND MAKING HEALTHY FOOD CHOICES ... (:12)

SOT: Rachel Brandeis, American Dietetic Association (1:20)
“Remember you are in charge of what you bring into the home.  You can say ‘no’.”

NARR:  I’M COLLIN SIEDOR FOR CONNECT WITH KIDS (:03)

SUGGESTED TAG:   FEDERAL GUIDELINES ALREADY IN PLACE LIMIT THE NUMBER OF COMMERCIALS THAT CAN RUN DURING T-V PROGRAMS AIMED CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 12.