The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The Centre for Science in the Public Interest and children's entertainer Raffi have applauded the call by Senator Mira Spivak for a ban on commercial advertising aimed at children. In a speech in the Senate yesterday, the Independent Senator from Manitoba said she plans to introduce a bill that would effectively prohibit commercial advertising to children under age 13. "Children deserve respect, not exploitation," said Canadian and internationally renowned children's troubadour Raffi Cavoukian. "Experts have been saying for years that ads on kids' TV shows, and elsewhere, constitute an unfair attack on impressionable minds that aren't mature enough to interpret them. Yet, every day, with the help of psychologists, big businesses besiege children, from birth, with advertising for commercial gain. It's simply unethical," he added. In 1978, Quebec passed legislation banning advertising directed at children and several European countries have put similar restrictions in place in recent years. In 1989, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld Quebec's ban in a landmark Charter of Rights ruling on the issue of freedom of expression. The court said "Éadvertising directed at young children is per se manipulative. Such advertising aims to promote products by convincing those who will always believe." "Commercial advertisers should be required to respect the vulnerability of children everywhere in Canada, as they now are in Quebec," Senator Spivak said. "Many television programs for children are surrounded by commercials for sugary soft drinks, sugary cereals, candy and French fries, or video games, movies or television show that discourage physical activity," said Bill Jeffery, national co-ordinator of the Centre for Science in the Public Interest. "We applaud Senator Spivak for drawing Parliament's attention to this vital issue. Companies talk a lot about parental responsibility, but have shown no responsibility themselves. It's high time that companies were barred from persuading children to consume junk foods. Those foods all too often lead to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and certain forms of cancer," said Bill Jeffery, National Coordinator of the Centre for Science in the Public Interest. See 'Foods' P.# Con't from P.# Obesity rates have increased five-fold among Canadian children in the past two decades and doubled among adults. Most heavily advertised foods are loaded with sodium and saturated and trans fat, and are deficient in calcium, whole grains, and fruits and vegetables Ð increasing the risks for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, some forms of cancer and osteoporosis in later life. Every year, diseases that can be prevented through proper diet and physical activity cause an estimated 47,000 premature deaths, and cost the Canadian economy approximately $6 billion to $10 billion in health care costs and lost productivity.
