More of the Same from House GOP

Today They Bury Their Heads in the Sand on Childhood Obesity

Washington, DC – The more House Republicans debate the serious issues facing our country, the more they prove just how out-of-touch they are. Yesterday the issue was consumer safety and letting oil speculators and Wall Street reign untouched. Today the issue is the childhood obesity epidemic and an amendment offered by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) allowing the Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children to complete its voluntary guidelines. Below are DeLauro’s remarks as prepared for delivery:

Mr. Chairman, I rise to offer an amendment which strikes Section 631 from the bill. This section prohibits funding for the FTC to complete its draft report of the Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children, which aims to set voluntary guidelines for industry, unless it complies with Executive Order 13563 covering review of existing regulations. This section shows just how far some will go to stop any actions aimed at improving the nutrition and health of our children.

Mister Chairman, obesity is a national epidemic we must confront from all angles. In America today, one in every three children is overweight or obese. These rates have doubled in the last thirty years for children under eleven. The direct medical costs of obesity – 147 billion dollars a year – are roughly nine percent of all medical spending in this country, and growing.

This is not just a health care issue. It is an issue of national security. A recent study determined that nine million young adults in this country – over 25% of our nation’s young adults – are too overweight to serve in our military.

In December 2005, the Institute of Medicine issued a report on food marketing to children and youth. That report – a review of the scientific literature – noted that, quote, “television advertising influences the food preferences, purchase requests, and diets…and is associated with the increased rates of obesity among children and youth.” Food and beverage marketing practices geared to children and youth are out of balance with healthful diets and contribute to an environment that puts their health at risk.

That is why the Federal Trade Commission, Centers for Disease Control, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the Food and Drug Administration worked together to draft voluntary guidelines for marketing to children, so we can begin to address the costly obesity epidemic our country is facing.

There is no reason for us to be restricting this critical work being done by the Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children, but that is exactly what the Majority has tried to do at every opportunity, including in this bill last year. This group has proposed voluntary marketing guidelines that do not dive into specific foods. They simply focus on some of the nutrient contents we know are a meaningful part of our diets, and those that we know place us at greater risk for obesity – things like high sodium, high added sugars, and high saturated fats.

The voluntary guidelines do not and will not penalize companies that are marketing healthy foods. They are not mandatory or enforced. In fact they parallel an effort by a large part of the industry to refine their food formulations and review their marketing efforts. However, our government should lead and push here—that is what this report that is being stopped is all about

I urge my colleagues to take a stand against the obesity epidemic in America and to support this amendment.