Casescase_2_7_McDonalds_and_Obesity课件Word下载.docx

1、Governments and influential health advocates around the world, spooked that their nations kids will become as fat as American kids, are cracking down on the marketers they blame for the explo- sion in childhood obesity. Across the globe, efforts are under way to slow the march of obesity.In the Unit

2、ed States, roughly 30 percent of American children are overweight or obese. According to the U.S. Centers for Dis- ease Control and Prevention （CDC）, an estimated 64.5 percent of Americans tip the scales as overweight or obese, the highest per- centage of fat people of any country in the world. Howe

3、ver, adults and kids in other countries are catching up.THE WORLDThe World Heart Federation reports that globally there are now more than 1 billion overweight adults and that at least 400 million of those are obese. An estimated 155 million children are over- weight worldwide including 3045 million

4、who are obese.1In many countries, the worst increases in obesity have oc- curred in young people. About half a million children in Europe are suffering classic middle-aged health problems because they are too fat. Obesity among European children has been on the rise over the last 25 years. The numbe

5、r of overweight children in Europe did not change much from 1974 to 1984; then the rate started to creep up during the next 10 years, and it exploded after 1995.In Britain, one in five children is overweight or obese; in Spain 30 percent; and in Italy, 36 percent. While less than 1 percent of the ch

6、ildren in Africa suffer from malnutrition, 3 percent are over- weight or obese.Perhaps the most distressing data come from Asia, where the measure of being overweight used in Western countries may un- derestimate the seriousness of weight-related health problems faced by Asians. In Japan, for exampl

7、e, obesity is defined as a body mass index （BMI） level of 25 or more, not 30 as it is in West- ern countries. But Japanese health officials report that a BMI of 25 or more is already causing high rates of diabetes. About 290 mil- lion children in China are thought to be overweight, and research- ers

8、 expect that number to double in the next 10 years. The World Health Organization has warned of an escalating global epidemic of overweight and obesity.GLOBAL REACTIONS TO OBESITYOne of the perplexing questions is why there has been a relatively sudden increase of obesity worldwide. Some opine that

9、fast-food portion sizes are partly to blame; the average size order of French fries has nearly tripled since 1955. Some people say advertis- ing is to blame, particularly ads aimed at children, such as thosethat use celebrities to market high-calorie foods. According to USA Today, one study found th

10、at the average American child sees 10,000 food ads a year, mostly for high-fat or sugary foods and drinks.Traditionally, in developing countries, the poorest people have been the thinnest, a consequence of hard physical labor and the consumption of small amounts of traditional foods. But when these

11、people in poor countries migrate to cities, obe- sity rates rise fastest among those in the lowest socioeconomic group.Even as food companies battle U.S. lawsuits and legislators who blame them for inducing childhood obesity, theyre being at- tacked on another frontEuropewhich is threatening, among

12、other things, to ban advertising icons such Tony the Tiger and Ronald McDonald. “I would like to see the industry not advertis- ing directly to children,” said one European health commissioner. “If this doesnt produce satisfactory results, we will proceed to legislation.” The European Health Commiss

13、ion has called for the food industry to set its own regulations to curb so-called junk-food advertising aimed at the European Unions 450 million citizens or face bans similar to the tobacco industry.The ominous comparison to cigarettes is increasingly being made in the United States as well. Comment

14、ing on a McDonalds plan to send Ronald McDonald to schools to preach about nutri- tion, an aide to a U.S. senator said, “No matter what Ronald is doing, they are still using this cartoon character to sell fatty ham- burgers to kids. Once upon a time, tobacco companies had Joe Camel and they didnt ge

15、t it either.”Also under fire is TV advertising of kids foods, as calls for curbs or bans rise around the world. “If the rise in the child obe- sity trend continues, within five years well be in the same situation as America is today,” said a senior child nutritionist at the Univer- sity of Copenhage

16、n who sits on the board of Denmarks National Board of Nutritional Science. “Banning TV ads that are targeting kids is an important strategy to adopt.” But there is an argument that those measures wont help. “In Sweden, Norway and Quebec, where food ads are banned from kids TV, theres no evidence that obesity rates have fallen.”A new law in France will force food marketers to c