WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller says those who run Nickelodeon, the children’s cable television channel, have a role to play in the fight against childhood obesity.
That’s why the West Virginia Democrat, the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said he is calling on Nickelodeon and its parent company, Viacom, to ban ads for junk food and sugar-filled beverages.
Rockefeller said the cable channel has “an obligation to protect the health of its young and impressionable audience.”
A 2012 study from Yale University showed Nickelodeon aired a quarter of all of the food advertisements kids under the age of 12 viewed.
Last year, the Center for Science in the Public Interest found that 69% of the foods advertised on Nickelodeon were junk food.
“This is about making sure our kids are able to live strong, healthy lives, and there are concrete steps each of us can take to support these efforts,” said Rockefeller.