• Archives

  • Jan27

    Cereal Facts, Not Serial Killers. Best and Worst!

    Posted in: Child Obesity

    The Yale Rudd Center Report on Marketing Cereal to Kids is out, and it isn’t pretty. Here’s an excerpt:

    “Compared to cereals marketed to adults, those marketed to children have 85% more sugar, 65% less fiber, and 60% more sodium. Together, cereal companies spend more than $156 million per year marketing to children.

    ■    Products with poor nutrition ratings such as Lucky Charms, Reese’s Puffs, and Cookie Crisp average three to four health claims on every box.

    Most cereals with the worst nutrition ratings are classified as “better-for-you” or “Smart Choices” by the companies.

    The average preschooler sees 642 cereal ads per year just on television, almost all for cereals with the worst nutrition ratings.”

    The kids cereals with the best ratings?

    Mini-Wheats, Organic Wild Puffs, Honey Sunshine, Mighty Bites and Clifford Crunch.  You might not have heard of them, but I hope you will.

    And they might take a page from really successful, heavily advertised cereals.  Make their sites totally engaging:  other cereals turn into toys or playthings.  Why not healthier cereals?

    Marion Nestle has assembled more Kids’ Marketing resources on her blog today.

  • Mar8

    What I Tell My Own Patients

    Posted in: Obesity and Weight Loss

    I’ve promised to tell you what I tell my own patients in Santa Barbara.

    What I really do for my own patients is listen. A lot.

    What I am listening for is something that she is really good at.

    Is she a great communicator or does she talk to herself? Is she analytical in any way? Is she adaptable or does having more than one thing to do throw her for a loop? Is she a follower or a leader? Is she thrilled with aesthetics or does auto mechanics make her heart sing? How does she organize her day?
    Whatever your primary set of skills, it can be channeled into permanent weight loss. Learning to use your friendship, your chart-making, your creativity to lose weight and keep it off is how people succeed long-term.

    Of the thousands of people in the National Weight Control Registry who have lost an average of 66 pounds and kept it off over five years

    o 78% eat breakfast every day.
    o 62% watch less than 10 hours of TV per week (even my ChefMD show!).
    o 90% exercise, on average, about 1 hour per day.

    Every dieter knows that it’s not a ratio of carbs to fat to protein that matters most.

    It’s feeling full and fully satisfied. It’s making plant foods sexy. It’s having enough choice. It’s keeping and celebrating times to indulge. Try my Apricot Breakfast Polenta…and taste the magic!

    John La Puma, MD