When Children's Television Icons Become Advertising Vehicles for Poor Eating Habits
Teletubbies could be bad for your children's health, particularly if they end up inside of a Happy Meal box, according to Alvin Poussaint, recipient of this year's Alonzo Smythe Yerby award from the Division of Public Health Practice and clinical professor of psychiatry at HMS. Poussaint lectured on "Public Health Prescriptions for the Media: Reframing the Past--Broadcasting the Future" at the award ceremony on March 22. The combination of television, advertising, fast food, and so-called educational programming exploits children, he said.
The
British-produced children's program Teletubbies sells.Third in
ratings among children ages two through five, the show attracts an audience
that concerns Poussaint because children are especially vulnerable to
the powers of advertising. Last year, Burger King gave away toy Teletubbies
with children's meals, and now McDonald's plans to do the same in a promotion
to begin April 14. In a signed letter, Poussaint and other children's
advocates condemned PBS for the licensing of Teletubbies to McDonald's.
Poussaint said the use of trusted characters from educational programs to manipulate children is a public health concern. "PBS's Teletubbies has been targeted to children as young as twelve months old," he said, "and PBS is assuring parents that the show is educational and beneficial for preschoolers without research or evidence to support such claims." As director of the Media Center at Judge Baker Children's Center, Poussaint has long advocated for children's rights and responsible television programming.
"Children watch too much television--three or four hours a day. Poor and minority children watch even more, up to five hours a day," he said. Television viewing has been associated with inactivity and a lack of physical fitness, he added, which in turn leads to obesity among children, teenagers, and young adults.
"There has been an increased effort and emphasis on targeting children for marketing," Poussaint said, citing the billions of dollars that are spent on attracting children. Advertisers often appeal to children for adult-oriented products so they will nag their parents to buy what manufacturers promote.
What is particularly galling to Poussaint is the transfer of innocuous characters from the supposedly child-friendly and advertising-free realm of PBS to the marketing campaigns of fast food powerhouses such as McDonald's, Burger King, and Pizza Hut.
Poussaint is not "anti-PBS" but believes that the network's mission statement, which proclaims, "PBS's children's programs are commercial-free and do not seek to sell anything to young viewers except the fun and excitement of learning," should entail commercial-free linkages to sources of advertisement outside of PBS. In other words, Teletubbies should not cross the boundary between Teletubbyland and McDonaldland.
He believes that if health professionals ignore the impact of advertising, they are not tackling an important area of public health. Campaigns against alcohol and tobacco have been successful, but fast food lacks similar warning labels that inform the public how harmful fatty and fried foods are to health. He is concerned that minority and poor audiences are most often targeted because fast food is cheap and convenient for households often headed by single parents.
Dean Barry Bloom presented Poussaint with the award, which commemorates
a deceased HSPH faculty member. The award recognizes accomplished persons
of color who reflect Yerby's characteristics by working towards high standards
for public health.
