Response to a peer's article

We are all aware of the issue of childhood obesity and how it has increased throughout the years. Madi's article from The New York Times captures how the environment children have been in affects their eating habits as they grow up. Catherine Musemeche explians how "as a doctor who treats children, many of whom are overweight or obese, I don’t think there can be much doubt that child-directed advertising is fueling the obesity epidemic". Later in the article researchers found a ban lasting 32 years on fast-food advertising to kids through electronic and print media in Quebec, Canada, reduced the childhood obesity rate drastically.
After reading the article, I was surprised how difficult it is for parents to respond to their children when being asked to buy sugary cereals, and fast-food generally advertised on television. This is a big issue for parents especially when having children who don't understand the effects of junk-food in the future. I never imagined how big of an issue it is with parents; rejecting something from your own child. Initially, my view towards whose to blame for the increase in childhood obesity was the parents. It still is. Children are mainly around their parents for the first few years of their lives, ergo they are the ones who feed them and such. "It doesn’t matter that children aren’t necessarily the ones checking out at the grocery store and driving up to the fast-food outlet", but they are still exposed to fast-food through the media no matter what. As Musemeche states, "Parents need to be aware of the pervasive advertising their children are being exposed to, take steps to manage their child’s media exposure, provide healthy alternatives to cereals and fast food and support legislation to curtail advertising to kids".