How Parents Can Make a Change* |
1. Ask your school principal: 2. Ask your school superintendent: 3. Ask your city Director of Parks and Recreation: 4. Ask your city planning department: Do you restrict the number of fast food establishments per capita in our city? 5. Ask yourself: * Suggestions from Leah Fraser, Ph.D., policy director, Latino Health Access |
Coming Soon! - The Latina Voz will looker deeper into the issue of childhood obesity in our May edition, complete with recipes direct from our nutritionist. |
Did you know?* - Hispanic, African-American and American Indian adolescents have higher rates of obesity than the rest of the population. Up to 24% of Hispanic and African-American are above the 95 percentile. - Mexican-American children ages 6 to 11 were more likely to be overweight (22%) than African-American children (20%) and non-Hispanic white children (14%) - More than half of television advertisements directed at children promote food and beverages such as candy, fast food, snack foods, soft drinks and sweetened breakfast cereals. - Annual sales of food and beverages to young consumers exceeded $27 billion in 2002. Food and beverage advertisers collectively spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year to reach children and youth. Of that, more than $1 billion is spent on media advertising to children, and $3 billion is spent on packaging designed for children. - Children and youth ages 11 to 18 years visit fast-food outlets an average of twice a week. - Household income spent on away-from-home foods rose from 25% of total food spending in 1970 to nearly one-half in 1999. * Statistics provided by the National Center for Health Statistics and the University of California's Agriculture and Natural Resources division. |
Drive-thru marketing turns into collision course for kids
By Dana Calvo
At some point during the release of economic models, studies and census figures of the mid-1990s, fast-food executives got wise - and fast - to Latinos' buying power in the United States . It's approaching $1 trillion a year, which makes it larger than the gross national product of any Spanish-speaking country in the world.
Franchises such as McDonald's, Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken are serious and strategic about luring Latino consumers away from their dinner table and into fast-food restaurants. They've incorporated actors of color in their commercials and even established local soccer tournaments aimed at Spanish-speaking, Latin American immigrant customers. This combination of efforts has paid off handsomely for the industry, although executives decline to release the breakdown of their demographics.
But for the targets of these slick campaigns there is a downside. Latino youths are now disproportionately obese when compared to non-Latino youths.
A study published in 2003 concluded that the high rate of obesity among Latinos in Orange County , Calif. , could be attributed, in part, to a combination of "lack of access to parks" and "easy access to fast food." And in recent years health leaders and advocacy groups have begun to buck under the firm grasp of fast-food restaurants on children of color, especially those from lower-income families.
This winter, the New York-based Advertising Council, Inc. is targeting young Latino and African-American consumers in their new anti-obesity campaign with spots that ask about the benefits of fast food. In one ad, the narrator praises low-fat cheese and high-fiber bread as two boys eat sandwiches and watch a gathering of pigeons at their feet.
"Foods rich in fiber are good for your heart, so you have the power to dominate," the narrator says. One of the boys belches noisily, and the pigeons disperse.
"Can your food do that?" the narrator asks.
But talking up nutritious whole food does little to lessen the seductive pull of an experience that seems scripted for the Latino customer. Many fast-food restaurant menus now include side dishes that are strategically designed to appeal to Latino customers, such as tortillas and rice pudding. Some fast-food places began installing modular seating to better accommodate Latino families, which are typically larger than non-Latino families tend to eat inside the restaurant rather than in their cars.
"Since the 1990s advocacy groups have come to notice that the strong media campaigns on behalf of fast food, sodas and junk food needed to be countered. We need to train the community on media literacy, getting people to understand how seductive they are," said Leah Fraser, director of policy at Latino Health Access in Santa Ana , Calif.
Sope Aluko, manager of multicultural marketing for Burger King in the U.S. , said nearly 20% of the company's customers are Hispanic, although the customers who consider themselves "English-dominant" have different "triggers" from the very loyal, fast-food loving, consumers who feel more comfortable communicating in Spanish.
That "Spanish-dominant" consumer is largely working class and skews toward lower income. They are the ideal customer for fast-food restaurants whose signature trademarks are cheap, dependably good-tasting meals.
There is little consideration on either end, though, of the fat, salt and nutritional content in those meals. And these are the very consumers who, Burger King research shows, typically visit the restaurant far more often than those who consider themselves English-dominant. Aluko describes them as "heavy fast-food users."
But the company consistently hits a snag with its trademark slogan, "Have It Your Way." That irony is lost on no one in the industry. Having it your own way requires the language ability to communicate how you want the meal modified. To steer the choice, Burger King executives know they need to hook all marketing campaigns to the flame-grilled Whopper, which is the anchor of the food orders.
It is also the mother lode of transfat, sodium and sugar.
"Jimmy eating a Whopper once a month on his way home from soccer practice is very different than him eating a Whopper every day because it's the only thing within walking distance from his apartment complex," said Fraser. "It's part of an overall environment. How much willpower are you supposed to have if you're targeted by media campaigns and there are five fast-food joints within walking distance and no park and no farmer's market or grocery store with a produce department?"
Dana Calvo left the Los Angeles Times last month to join the writing staff of Aaron Sorkin's new NBC drama "Studio 7." Her articles have also appeared in Latina , Smithsonian, the New Republic and The New York Times.
Su Conexión
Advocacy Guides en Español:
www.californiaprojectlean.org/resourcelibrary/genResourceLibraryDetail.asp?
CGUID=%7B06FE8E81%2D7E7F%2D4968%2DB57C%2DCC34B75F240F%7D&
CIID=res%5F1096&CIV=1&CATNID=1055&CATNGUID=
%7B8DB63019%2DE537%2D4874%2D8E88%2DB51134E40D97%7D
American Obesity Association: www.obesity.org/subs/childhood/
Cool stuff about food, plus an activity tracker, for teens and kids: www.smallstep.gov/
Energy wake-up call to teens: www.caprojectlean.org/
Seeing through media hype: www.commonsensemedia.org
Snack food calculator: www.californiaprojectlean.org/calculator/
Preview the Advertising Council's public service announcements: www.adcouncil.org/campaigns/healthy_lifestyles_children/
What parents can do: www.mayoclinic.com/health/childhood-obesity/FL00058
