Inappropriate advertising contributes to many kids' ills, from obesity to anorexia, to drinking booze and having sex too soon, and Congress should crack down on it, the American Academy of Pediatrics says.
"Young people view more than 40,000 ads per year on television alone and increasingly are being exposed to advertising on the Internet, in magazines, and in schools," the policy says.
No one ever said spending hours in front of the tv was good..and now we're getting facts on what kind of things watching so much crap can do to kids..and it's disturbing to say the least.
Doctors are calling for new rules to be implemented:
• ban junk-food ads during shows geared toward young children;
• limit commercial advertising to no more than 6 minutes per hour, a decrease of 50 percent;
• restrict alcohol ads to showing only the product, not cartoon characters or attractive young women;
• prohibit interactive advertising to children on digital TV.