Post by URBAN FARMING on Oct 10, 2013 15:26:20 GMT -6
"Youth are exposed to professional athlete endorsements of food products that are energy-dense and nutrient-poor."
“Superstar athletes Peyton Manning, LeBron James and Serena Williams led their colleagues with endorsements of food and beverages that are calorie-dense and unhealthful – sending mixed messages about diet and health, researchers said. Of 512 brands endorsed by 100 top athletes, nearly a quarter of them (122) were for food and beverages – 44 different brands in 2010, the year studied by researchers from Yale, Stanford, Duke and Harvard universities. (Some brands appeared more than once on the list.)
Nearly 80% of the 49 food products were "energy-dense and nutrient-poor," and 93% of the 73 beverages got all of their calories from added sugar, according to the study, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics. The researchers noted "a striking irony of having someone so physically fit as these athletes promoting such unhealthy foods," lead researcher Marie Bragg of Yale's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity said in a telephone interview. And, they said, adolescents ages 12 to 17 were the group that saw the most of such commercials. "It would be ideal if athletes stopped promoting unhealthful food," Bragg said. "But that’s a tall order given how much money is involved." But, she said, she hopes to see such endorsements become a liability for athletes.
Andy Bellatti, a registered dietitian and co-founder of the group Dietitians for Professional Integrity, agreed. "We have to reach that tipping point where advertising for soda is seen as irresponsible," he said, especially because so many children looked up to sports stars.
Sports beverages were the largest category of athlete endorsements, with 39, followed by soft drinks with 21 and fast food with 16, the researchers wrote. The products in tennis star Serena Williams' ads had the worst scores for nutrition. Manning had the most ads for food and beverages with 25, followed by baseball player Ryan Howard with 21. Howard, the researchers wrote, endorsed the fewest energy-dense, nutrient-poor products.
Underlying the research is a recommendation from the World Health Organization for policies limiting young people's exposure to food advertising. "Professional athletes are in a unique position to use their highly visible status to promote healthy messages to youth," the researchers wrote.”
Quoted from and to read more: www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sn-athlete-food-endorsements-20131004,0,2761765.story
Primary Source- partially quoted from and to read more: pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2013/10/02/peds.2013-0093.abstract?sid=b6c5a9ca-b681-4830-a2c6-0d4cae5d2f55
“Superstar athletes Peyton Manning, LeBron James and Serena Williams led their colleagues with endorsements of food and beverages that are calorie-dense and unhealthful – sending mixed messages about diet and health, researchers said. Of 512 brands endorsed by 100 top athletes, nearly a quarter of them (122) were for food and beverages – 44 different brands in 2010, the year studied by researchers from Yale, Stanford, Duke and Harvard universities. (Some brands appeared more than once on the list.)
Nearly 80% of the 49 food products were "energy-dense and nutrient-poor," and 93% of the 73 beverages got all of their calories from added sugar, according to the study, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics. The researchers noted "a striking irony of having someone so physically fit as these athletes promoting such unhealthy foods," lead researcher Marie Bragg of Yale's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity said in a telephone interview. And, they said, adolescents ages 12 to 17 were the group that saw the most of such commercials. "It would be ideal if athletes stopped promoting unhealthful food," Bragg said. "But that’s a tall order given how much money is involved." But, she said, she hopes to see such endorsements become a liability for athletes.
Andy Bellatti, a registered dietitian and co-founder of the group Dietitians for Professional Integrity, agreed. "We have to reach that tipping point where advertising for soda is seen as irresponsible," he said, especially because so many children looked up to sports stars.
Sports beverages were the largest category of athlete endorsements, with 39, followed by soft drinks with 21 and fast food with 16, the researchers wrote. The products in tennis star Serena Williams' ads had the worst scores for nutrition. Manning had the most ads for food and beverages with 25, followed by baseball player Ryan Howard with 21. Howard, the researchers wrote, endorsed the fewest energy-dense, nutrient-poor products.
Underlying the research is a recommendation from the World Health Organization for policies limiting young people's exposure to food advertising. "Professional athletes are in a unique position to use their highly visible status to promote healthy messages to youth," the researchers wrote.”
Quoted from and to read more: www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sn-athlete-food-endorsements-20131004,0,2761765.story
Primary Source- partially quoted from and to read more: pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2013/10/02/peds.2013-0093.abstract?sid=b6c5a9ca-b681-4830-a2c6-0d4cae5d2f55