Boy, am I glad my free thepunch.com.au subscription is up to date. I had barely pulled the digital cling wrap off yesterday’s copy before I noticed sugar was being hotly debated by none other than the big kahuna of News Limited’s foray into online journalism, David Penberthy.
Dave was taking the big stick to that icon of Australian nutrition, Rosemary Stanton, for taking the big stick to that icon of, well, ah, crocodile stuff, Bindi Irwin. Rosemary was upset by an ad that Bindi had done which promoted a packet chocolate cake for Green’s. She didn’t think it was appropriate for a child to push unhealthy food to other kids.
Penbo came out flailing in defence of Big Sugar. Slamming Rosemary for delivering a “pretty out there tirade”, he went on to accuse her of being in “cloud cuckoo land” and suffering from “bad taste” while she was about it.
Rosemary, you have a point. High profile kids shouldn’t advertise high sugar (the cake mix is 37% sugar) foods to kids. They will want to buy it (otherwise, Green’s “significant” contribution towards wildlife conservation will have been a waste of money). But it is cake mix. No-one is suggesting it is healthy, no-one is giving it a heart tick and no nutritionist is advertising it as a replacement for fruit or anything else. It’s a treat, we know it’s a treat and no-one is being duped.
David, you have a point — it’s just cake — but get a grip. Rosemary just said she was saddened by an inappropriate use of a child in advertising. No nuclear devices were detonated. Australia didn’t lose the Ashes. And no advertisers were harmed.
Don’t get me wrong, I am loving seeing the glitterati of the food debate (a little artistic license with that, I know) slugging it out in the broadsheets of the nation. But seriously people, there are bigger gummi bears to fry.
Streets want every child to get their “afternoon calcium” from their new Paddle Pop Moos. They proudly proclaim every single ice-block has the calcium of “one glass of milk” but leave the fact that it is 20% sugar to the small print. Nestle would rather the kids get their daily calcium from Milo Duo “nutritious energy cereal” (30% sugar) or a nice (Australian Heart Foundation approved) chocolate Billabong (19% sugar). Really health conscious kids are encouraged to go for some Uncle Toby’s Oats – So Tasty for Kids (30% sugar).
For that after breakfast snack, Kellogg’s wants you to feed your young iron-men Nutrigrain Bars and perhaps give the other kids some nice (heart foundation ticked) K-Time Twists (both 37% sugar — the same as the cake mix). Don’t even get me started on LCM’s (30% sugar) and their schoolyard commercials.
The problem is not that Bindi (or anyone else) is advertising cake mix. No-one is in danger of being fooled into believing chocolate cake is health food. The real problem is that food that should be clearly labelled as “high sugar confectionary — use extreme discretion when feeding to children” is being marketed as the equivalent of broccoli “but fun”.
Why aren’t the hard questions being asked by the people who have the kind of firepower that gets column inches about chocolate cake? Why are nutritionists silent or complicit? These are the questions that need answering. Let’s leave spats about whether Bindi should have plaits or a pony tail to the school yard where it belongs.
David Gillespie is a lawyer and author of “Sweet Poison, why sugar makes us fat”
David
I have spent over 40 years trying to convince Australians that we should eat less sugar. I rarely contact the media, although it’s hard to remember a day when they don’t contact me. The Bindi Irwin comment consisted of a journalist asking for my opinion of the new ads. I gave it briefly and was a bit surprised to cop a pretty unfair whack for it. Fortunately, I’ve been around long enough to ignore the silly/nasty/ignorant comments I get, although I’m still a bit taken aback at the way internet anonymity gives some people carte blanche to be pretty rude.
I and many of my colleagues who work in public health have spent years having a go at sweetened cereals, sweet drinks, ‘health’ confectionery and dozens of other sugary items pushed at kids. We’ll continue to push the anti-junk food barrow, which is overloaded with sugary foods and drinks masquerading as ‘healthy’.
Bindi is a thin product selling a fat product. Child abuse x 2. Hasn’t Penberthy noticed the obesity epidemic? Doesn’t he know Macdonalds was installed inside the Royal Childrens’ Hospital years ago? Now it takes two school buses instead of one to take the same number of kids on an excursion.
Doesn’t he realise that pilots are scared to take off these days? Does he realise that Fat Al Gore’s private jet has to refuel after only 300km? So does Al Gore.
Has he thought about diabetes?
Is Penbo just a Big Sugar daddy?
Rosemary: re anonymous internet abuse- pathetic as it is, most readers dismiss it without a thought. It’s just spambile, to coin a phrase. But usually worth replying to politely, since the vast majority of people are interested in real arguments, and a soft answer makes the anonymous wordmugger look like the mental equivalent of a sink-estate hoodie. Many are no doubt respectable middle-aged citizens who would be mortified if their rudeness was exposed. An earnest reply to online insult might even encourage them to rummage through their drawers for an argument or two…
On the other hand, the well-turned insult is a thing of duty, best saved for the overweight stentorians of the commentariat.
Hello, I agree these ad campaigns are a bit rubbish, just out of curiousity and to emphasise the point, what percentage of sugar is the equivalent volume of milk?
Also another thing to consider may be that while the children are being directly targetted by this type of marketing, I believe the demographic that does actually end up doing the purchasing is the mum doing the shopping. Maybe the way to go about this is governmental advertisement about childhood obesity showing healthier options with a different demographic audience – or am I just a bit naive.
Rosemary, you’re a champion.
maybe a solution is truth in advertising. If you state your product is natural or healthy and it isn’t then you have broken the law. A couple of examples and then maybe when I buy a healthy product it is good for my health