Action Alert: Act Now to Stop School Bus Advertising
Dave Lawrence
Please pass this on to friends and family in Missouri. Thanks!
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Beth Low" <bet...@kcfoodpolicy.org>
Date: May 4, 2012 5:20 PM
Subject: Action Alert: Act Now to Stop School Bus Advertising
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Greater Kansas City Food Policy Coalition
Action Alert:
Act Now to Stop School Bus Advertising
This Edition
Call to Action
About Us
The mission of the Greater KC Food Policy Coalition is to advocate for a healthy food system and promote policies that positively impact the nutritional, economic, social and environmental health of Greater Kansas City.
To learn more, go to www.kcfoodpolicy.org
Call to Action
This week the Missouri Senate's Education Committee heard House Bill 1273, which "requires the State Board of Education to establish rules to authorize school boards to lease advertising on school buses." A vote could come as soon as next week.
The bill would exclude advertising of items that are "harmful" to children, such as alcohol and tobacco, but allows for foods of non-nutritional value (aka junk food). It creates the potential for marketing of sugary soft drinks, energy drinks and fast food through the school system.
This bill would allow ads to be placed on the outside AND the INSIDE of buses, where children will be exposed to them for the duration of their bus ride. Other states have considered, and rejected, similar bills that allow advertising only on the exterior or interior of buses. Please take action today!
Here are 3 ways you can take action:
Please click here to take a moment to tell the Senate Education Committee and your senator to vote "No" on HB 1273.
Stay Informed: Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood is tracking this trend in state legislatures across the country.
Contact your senator, ask them to oppose HB 1273 based on these facts:
According to the Yale Rudd Center, exposure to food advertising has a negative impact on child and adolescent diets, which includes increases in snacking on unhealthy food, increased consumption of soft drinks, lower fruit and vegetable consumption, and higher rates of obesity.
The Yale Rudd Center reports that the food industry spent more than $1.6 billion on marketing to youth in 2006, including $900 million in marketing aimed directly at children younger than 12 years and designed specifically to increase positive attitudes and preferences for its products.
Missouri's childhood obesity rate is high and rising rapidly. Our children don't need further exposure to unhealthy foods.
Missouri was named the 11th most obese state in the country, according to the eighth annual F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2011, a report from the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Here are some facts from that report:
Missouri's adult obesity rate is 30.3 percent.
The obesity epidemic in Missouri and in many states has grown over the past two decades.
The most recent state-by-state data on obesity rates for youth 10 to 17 are from 2007 and also were included in last year's report. According to the data, 13.6 percent of children and adolescents in Missouri are considered obese.
Fifteen years ago, Missouri had a combined obesity and overweight rate of 52.9 percent. Ten years ago, it was 57.1 percent. Now, the combined rate is 65.6 percent.
The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood emphasizes that these bills DO NOT generate significant revenue for schools.
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Greater Kansas City Food Policy Coalition | P.O. Box 480227 | Kansas City | MO | 64148