The article discusses the historical evolution of public health approaches to children's diets, beginning with tobacco regulations in the 1880s. Despite early laws preventing minors from smoking, similar protective measures for junk food have not been implemented. Jean Mayer's warnings to the Senate in the 1970s about the dangers of sugary cereals and junk food fell on deaf ears. Although nutritional quality improvements were made in school lunches, advertising targeting children continued unchecked, leading to a reliance on family management for healthy eating, highlighting societal and legislative gaps in food health protections.
In the latter part of the twentieth century, warnings from nutritionists about junk food’s impact on children went largely ignored, with no significant legislative bans enacted.
Despite efforts to improve nutritional standards in schools, aggressive advertising towards children has persisted, shifting the responsibility of healthy eating onto families.
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