A work of substance
Today we (13 other people and I) turned in a 217 page report, which we have been working on furiously for the last three months. It will be reviewed by the faculty to ensure that it's up to professional levels, but our faculty advisor assured us that the content should pass with flying colors. We might have to do some copy-editing. The report contains policy recommendations, that an actual advocacy group is going to consider and possibly try to implement. I'm still stunned at the concept.
The project was a bit odd, although fun to work on. Our client, a public health advocacy group, is convinced that the massive amounts of junk food advertising is contributing to what the media has taken to calling the "childhood obesity epidemic". I personally have problems using the clinical term epidemic to describe non-communicable diseases, and some issues with how obesity is currently measured, but whatever.
Anyways, obesity, and obesity related diseases are a concern for this group. And they are right that a preponderance\ of studies do show a correlation between exposure to food advertising and consumption habits. Which only makes sense. Currently, food advertising that is aimed at kids is regulated by a industry self-regulatory body called CARU. Our job was examine current marketing practices, examine the effectiveness of CARU as a regulatory body, and alternative methods of regulation.
Conclusion - CARU does pretty much jack. We proposed changes to make it a more effective self-regulatory body, and examined the possibility of government regulation. Government regulation, however, brings a whole new set of problem with it and is terribly political in nature. In then end, it seems public health and media literacy education would be a more effect methods of change.
The project was a bit odd, although fun to work on. Our client, a public health advocacy group, is convinced that the massive amounts of junk food advertising is contributing to what the media has taken to calling the "childhood obesity epidemic". I personally have problems using the clinical term epidemic to describe non-communicable diseases, and some issues with how obesity is currently measured, but whatever.
Anyways, obesity, and obesity related diseases are a concern for this group. And they are right that a preponderance\ of studies do show a correlation between exposure to food advertising and consumption habits. Which only makes sense. Currently, food advertising that is aimed at kids is regulated by a industry self-regulatory body called CARU. Our job was examine current marketing practices, examine the effectiveness of CARU as a regulatory body, and alternative methods of regulation.
Conclusion - CARU does pretty much jack. We proposed changes to make it a more effective self-regulatory body, and examined the possibility of government regulation. Government regulation, however, brings a whole new set of problem with it and is terribly political in nature. In then end, it seems public health and media literacy education would be a more effect methods of change.