National Geographic kids magazine packed with ads for foods and drinks that promote obesity and diabetes, says CSPI

• The National Geographic Society's once ad-free magazine for kids is now packed with ads for fast food, candy, sugary cereals, snack cakes, and other products, according to the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).
• CSPI today urged the Society to reject ads for low-nutrition, high-calorie foods which CSPI says put the magazine's young readers at greater risk for obesity, tooth decay, and other diet-related diseases.
• The magazine, National Geographic Kids (NGK), also runs very few articles about nutrition or healthy eating and shamelessly blends food advertising into its editorial content, according to a review CSPI conducted of 17 recent issues.
• "At a time when obesity, diabetes, and other nutrition-related health crises plague our nation and especially our youth, it is unconscionable that the National Geographic Society, with its esteemed reputation and long standing educational mission for both adults and children, has chosen to cram National Geographic Kids with ads for sugary cereals, candy, and snack foods," wrote CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson and CSPI legal consultant Ellen J. Fried to John M. Fahey, Jr., president and CEO of National Geographic.
• CSPI also told the Society that its food ads run afoul of the guidelines set by the Children's Advertising Review Unit of the National Advertising Review Council---the self-regulatory body of the advertising industry.
• Another focused on food industry efforts to make more healthful foods, but ended by belittling children's interest in nutrition thusly: "Some McDonald's restaurants are offering Happy Meals with fruit instead of fries.
• Junk food ads are clearly a major source of revenue for the National Geographic Society.
• "National Geographic has built up its reputation over so many years, and it would be absolutely tragic for it to squander its credibility by continuing to push junk food on its youngest and most impressionable readers," Jacobson said.