New Olympian Michael Phelps Now a Junk Food Spokesperson?
People are wondering what kind of a role model Michael Phelps is going to be to the growing population of overweight and obese children. His choices of foods to sponsor and endorse caused many child obesity experts to denounce his endorsements.
Kellogg Co. announced on August 19 that Michael Phelps, winner of eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, will be featured on upcoming boxes of Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes and Kellogg’s Corn Flakes. No longer is Wheaties the breakfast of champions in stead it’s Tony the Tiger’s GREEAATTT cereal.
Phelps has also been serving as ambassador for a program sponsored by McDonald’s to bring Chinese children to the Olympics and serve them American fast food. Consumer Health advocate Mike Adams, offered these words on the questionable choices being made in endorsing these products:
Olympian Michael Phelps is currently an active participant in this “junk food imperialism” that’s sweeping through China, ensnaring hundreds of millions of children in a junk food diet that may doom many of them to deadly diseases later in life.
The Children’s International Obesity Foundation (CIOF) believes that celebrities should think twice before choosing to endorse or encourage the consumption of any product which is inherently unhealthful to children, especially if that product is correlated to obesity, diabetes, and a myriad of dangerous conditions.”
Douglas Castle, Senior Adviser to CIOF has pointed out that
“Public figures like Michael Phelps exert a major influence over our youngsters. Mr. Phelps is a superior athlete by any measure, but his judgment regarding the McDonald’s and Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes endorsements was either ill-advised by his handlers; the irrational product of too much blood sugar; or a sad triumph of greed over good.”
Let’s hope that the public outcry will cause them to reconsider or at least the parents of the children being targeted to reconsider supporting the endorsed products.
Add comment August 22nd, 2008
