Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 4, 1992 TAG: 9202040307
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CAROLE SUGARMAN
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
KIDS OFFER ADVICE ON FOOD LABELING
Nine-year-old Elise Kessler knows that fat clogs your heart. She thinks it's probably okay for children to eat it, at least until they're 12. Her brother Benjamin, 6, believes fish might be good for you, but he's not sure. As for food advertisements, the Kessler kids, according to their father, believe that ads "just lie."Their father is Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler, who was quick to quip to his children that a different agency oversees food advertisements. But the FDA is in charge of what's on package labels, and in that capacity, Kessler has proposed a label geared to children.
The voluntary program, announced in January, will be developed by KIDSNET, a national non-profit media group. Karen Jaffe, executive director of KIDSNET, said such labels, envisioned as bold, simple and graphic, would be a "trigger" to raise kids' nutrition awareness.
The labeling program and Kessler's comments about his children's nutrition know-how were made at the Children and Nutrition conference, sponsored by the consumer group Public Voice for Food and Health Policy. Almost 300 health and nutrition specialists gathered to discuss how to guide children toward better eating habits.
But perhaps the best suggestions came not from experts but from a panel of 11 savvy Washington-area 9- to 12-year-olds. For example, experts may think children are brainwashed by food ads, yet like Elise and Benjamin Kessler, the panelists all agreed that food commercials aren't fair or truthful.
"They're advertising. They don't care how healthful the food is," said Jill McClelland, an elementary-school student in suburban Virginia.
In fact, when asked what professionals could do to get kids to eat better, student Shaun Murphy said, "TV needs to advertise fruit" instead of candy bars and chips.
And if they could devise an ad for fruit and other healthful foods, what would it say? "It should advertise the taste, not that it's healthful," said McClelland, echoing the comments of Peter Benziger, vice president of Child Research Services, a market-research firm. Taste is the No. 1 selling point with kids, Benziger said, followed by showing them the benefits of the food - "help them imagine how it feels to eat it" - and making it fun with mascots or animated characters.
That's why student Jamie Smith suggested advertisers use famous people to sell nutritious foods, and student Cherryce Fields added that since "everybody likes music," sponsors should use favorite superstars like Skid Row to promote good-for-you foods.
As to where youngsters get nutrition information, many felt that doctors and dentists are more reliable than their parents. "Parents need to get informed," said student Danielle Wilkins. Some parents think that a fat, full child is a happy, healthy one, she said.
On the other hand, most felt their teachers knew less about nutrition than their parents and that teachers needed to set better examples. "When my teacher eats lunch, she sits in front of us and eats potato chips," Fields said.
"You might not eat certain foods" if you read the label, said Murphy. That's just what the adult experts already know. Although children don't usually read the small print of ingredient panels, they will look to see if it has something they don't like, Benziger said. He added that they'll then scan the package to see if it contains something they do like.