Why Are Junk Food Giants Hawking Health to Kids?
PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, and McDonald\'s are just some of the companies doing backbends and jumping jacks to hustle a "balanced nutrition" message to kids. They’re creating playgrounds, classroom curriculum, and funding fitness foundations to get kids off their keisters and move.

It sounds like a great idea: Corporations are throwing money at a huge national health issue. But these promotions also blur boundaries, allowing brands to seep into our schools, homes, and even kids\' homework assignments. Check out these recent campaigns, and get tips to raise your family\'s awareness:

Who\'s the source? PepsiCo blitzed 15,000 middle schools with its "Balance First" standards-based curriculum. The corporation used the "Smart Choices Made Easy" logo to brand lower fat items, taught kids to "balance what you choose with how you move," and gave teachers discounts on educational products for providing feedback.

The problem? For starters, PepsiCo\'s "healthy" green logo is misleading. It looks like a seal of approval, but it is self-awarded. And it only represents products within Pepsi\'s own line of snacks, soda, cereal, and such.

• Ask your kids: Does a "healthy" logo make a product healthy? What nutritional criteria are used? If facts are cited, who paid for the study? If scientific statements are made, who is the source?

Parents should also take a look at Pepsi’s "Get Active, Stay Active" Web site, which tips the scales with distortions such as "boys constantly playing team sports can consume more than 5,000 calories a day and still maintain a healthy weight." This is thousands of calories more than what health experts recommend; the site fails to say what "constantly" means or tell kids what those extra calories should be. The site\'s hydration suggestions include "a healthy balance of \'fun\' drinks like soda and carbonated beverages."

• Ask: How do these suggestions promote products? Can you count how many soda logos are on the exercise and fitness page

Why is it free? Coca-Cola’s giving kids personal Stepometers, encouraging kids to count 10,000 steps a day with its “Live It!” program, “Step with It!” curriculum, and “Fit It In” nutritional educational materials, reaching 2 million 4th to 8th graders before June 2006. Of course, they never mention that one Coke takes about 3,020 steps to burn off.

• Ask: Why choose Coke red as the color of the freebie while keeping the brand name off the materials that kids see? Do big companies earn an “in” with educators by being "unbranded?" Have teachers mentioned the program by name? Have school newsletters thanked Coca-Cola? How does a quiet strategy work in favor of a big corporation?

Does the message ring true? In a TV ad, Ronald and NBA superstar Yao Ming zip along on skateboards and bicycles to the catchy jingle, “It’s what I eat and what I do.” Preteens may clown around mocking the concept of Ronald in warm-ups, but wee ones may see a Happy Meal as a healthy meal. Help your child connect the dots:

• Ask: What’s strange about Ronald’s transformation from burger pusher to fitness freak? The company sponsored the Olympics, and hires spokespeople such as tennis stars Vanessa and Serena Williams; do you think top athletes chug a lot of soda and chomp fries? Why might McDonald\'s focus on shifting its image?

In the end, what’s a parent to do? Step in to the fitness frenzy by modeling exercise and good nutrition to your family. And keep a very healthy awareness when it comes to the ad campaigns junk food giants send your way.

Amy Jussel is the Executive Director of Shaping Youth, a new consortium of media and marketing professionals concerned about harmful messages to children.