Good Nutrition: Nestlé is part of the problem, not part of the solution

A little bird provided me with a copy of a Nestlé news release that was being circulated via e-mail today. It seems Nestlé has teamed up with the American Academy of Pediatrics on a Healthy Active Living Initiative.  According to the news release:

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), with support from the Nestlé Nutrition Institute, has established the Healthy Active Living for Families (HALF) Project to help identify and develop patient and family educational tools and materials. The materials will be specific to obesity prevention and care targeted to the following developmental stages: infancy, toddlerhood, and early childhood/preschoolers. These unique materials will be scientifically validated and crafted using a developmental approach to children’s care, with special attention on creating culturally appropriate materials and incorporating plain language to make it easy for all families to understand best health practices.

The press release also provides data from a Nestlé study on feeding of infants and toddlers that was conducted in 2002 and 2008:

Last year, the 2008 FITS data revealed that toddlers and preschoolers in particular had diets high in saturated fat and sodium, and lacking in fruits, vegetables, and fiber. The researchers noted that caregivers have made significant improvement in infant feeding compared to the first FITS study in 2002, but may need more guidance and diligence to improve the diets of toddlers and preschoolers who are mirroring the often unhealthy eating patterns of American adults.

The press release is full of language underscoring the unhealthy food and lifestyle habits of American families, but interestingly no criticism of the processed food industry. Instead, the press release talks about how the Nestlé Start Healthy, Stay Healthy™ Nutrition System will help parents raise healthier children and how the "partnership with AAP is truly a natural and cohesive collaboration, as Nestlé research and GERBER® product development focus specifically on the healthy growth and development of children from birth up to age four."

Sounds great, right?

WRONG

The problem with this scenario is that Nestlé is one of the companies pushing unhealthy food. It is hilarious that Nestlé underscores the problem of french fries, when its Gerber Graduates meals contain more than twice as much sodium as a medium order of French Fries at McDonald's.

According to an article on the food industry and obesity in Business Week, too much of the blame for obesity and poor nutrition is put on individuals and too little on the companies that aggressively market crap:

The evidence is mounting that the obesity crisis is not the result of a lack of personal responsibility—the processed food industry’s practices may be just as much, if not more, to blame. Pish tosh, say many of us; we just need to watch what we eat and exercise more. It seems it’s not that simple. Two new studies conclude that the food industry is following the tobacco industry’s play book to ensure that we keep loading up on calories, and as a result virtually all of the weight gain in the U.S. over the last 30 years can be attributed to eating more, not moving less.

A lot of people would say that is ridiculous and that people need to take personal responsibility for what they are feeding their families. That is true, to some extent. But these processed food manufacturers also take advantage of the fact that parents have little time and that they (for some odd reason) trust what corporations have to say. For example, those sodium-laden Gerber Graduates I mentioned above? Here is how Nestlé describes them:

GRADUATES LIL’ ENTRÉES* are nutritious mealtime combinations in one convenient ready-to-serve tray for your toddler. They are as delicious as they are nutritious, carefully cooked for just the right taste and texture. Each LIL' ENTRÉE contains a full serving of veggies. Plus, there are no added preservatives or artificial flavours. Each entrée provides protein, vitamins and minerals.

They make it sound like it is something you should actually be feeding your child when you read that description. Yikes. As obesity doctor Yoni Freedhoff says about Nestlé's Gerber Graduates: "Guess they're trying to graduate them to full blown heart disease."

There are always ulterior motives when large multinational corporations get involved in initiatives like this. They see working with the AAP as an opportunity both to push their agenda to the AAP and to gain credibility in the eyes of consumers who would like to believe that their health professionals wouldn't partner up with a junk food company to provide advice on nutrition. If Nestlé truly wants to help with obesity prevention and healthy living, it should start by making its products a lot healthier and stop pretending its toddler-sized TV dinners are healthy food.

Comments

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