English Writing Assignment

SUMMARY OF CHRIS MOERDYK’S ARTICLE

In the article “Advertising Alone Cannot Be Blamed For Childhood Obesity” from the Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context database, the author questions the relationship between advertising and childhood obesity. Admitting there are some advertisers with misled intentions, he says that “they are few and far between” (Moerdyk). He claims that it is the job of the parents of today’s youth to guide their children in the right direction and protect them from a greater influence, peer pressure. Moerdyk mentions the lack of care in parents who “send them off to shopping malls or to school with lunch money without really caring if they have a proper lunch”. It is this non-regulating behavior exhibited by the parents that he claims is one of the leading causes in childhood obesity.

Pointing out that peer pressure is what parents should safeguard their children from; he says it is this peer pressure that causes children to want things, not advertising. An example he gives is labeling the drug issue of young children to peer pressure, rather than advertising. His reasoning is because although the drug problem is getting worse and worse, for obvious reasons there are no advertisements for these drugs, and yet kids still try and do them. He points out the cause of the drug problem is also the cause of the obesity problem. It just shows how kids are going to do what their friends do, even if that means eat junk food, and that “It’s all about being accepted and being cool” (Moerdyk).

According to the author the advertising market is not the culprit for the childhood obesity problem today. He backs up this idea with the results from research that states “the mass media has lost contact with the 16-24 year old market” (Moerdyk). He claims that forms of communication popular with older generations are not as popular with today’s younger generations. This drop in popularity he says drops the amount of overall advertising to child audience and reinforces his idea that advertising is not the culprit for child obesity. He concludes by stating “advertising is about choices – nothing else” (Moerdyk). This idea he proposes means that advertising only allows a consumer choice between one type of company brand over the other, not influence of what food should be eaten.

Work Cited

Moerdyk, Chris. "Advertising Alone Cannot Be Blamed for Childhood Obesity."www.news24.com (31 July 2007). Rpt. in How Does Advertising Impact Teen Behavior? Ed. David M. Haugen. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008. At Issue. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 22 Jan. 2011.