Portfolious

In 1998 the government stepped in and made the tobacco industry promise that it wouldn’t direct their advertising and marketing towards underage teens.  However, recent studies have shown an increase in teen smoking and researchers found that the source is Camel cigarettes.

The controversial advertisements are for R.J. Reynold’s Camel No. 9 cigarettes and that were featured in popular women’s magazines like Vogue, Glamour and Lucky in 2007.  The ads were made to blend in with the pages of a fashion magazine. The cigarettes are featured with dresses, shoes, jewelry and purses.  Basically the cigarettes were mixed with fashion items that teen girls would find appealing.

“The ads had a lot imagery that is girl-like,” says Cheryl Healton with the American Legacy Foundation, an anti-tobacco advocacy group. “The cigarettes were described as light and luscious and featured pink packaging. Making them almost like candy.”

Over the course of several years, the girls were asked, “What is the name of the cigarette brand of your favorite cigarette advertisement?”  In 2004, 10 percent of girls chose Camel as their favorite brand.  In 2008, a year after R.J. Reynolds launched its new female friendly campaign, 22 percent of girls chose Camel as their favorite brand.

“The majority of these kids had not reported a favorite ad before,” says the study’s author, John Pierce with the University of Southern California-San Diego’s Moores Cancer Center.

This increase has public health officials concerned.  Studies have found that teens who can tell you the name of the brand of their favorite cigarette ad are 50 percent more likely to take up smoking in the next three years.

When asked their thoughts the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company said that it “adheres to numerous restrictions on how it markets its tobacco products and does not take any action to target youth.” The company’s statement goes on to say, “Camel No. 9 was developed in response to female adult smokers…who were asking for a product that better reflected their taste preferences and style.”

Pierce estimates Camel’s 2007 marketing campaign may have influenced 174,000 underage girls to start smoking.

SOURCE: http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/03/15/was-it-a-cigarette-ad-campaign-that-worked-on-teenagers/

You may have already noticed.  There is a new awareness about obesity buzzing around us.  It’s on the news.  It’s in the newspaper.  And thankfully soon it will be in the doctor’s offices and schools.

Last Tuesday Michelle Obama announced her campaign to fight childhood obesity.  It’s a much needed campaign as the scary facts state that as a nation, we are getting fatter each year.  We should already know the side effects of being overweight, including an increased risk of heart disease and diabetes, which is significantly higher in those who are obese.  In addition, there are hundreds of other health problems that can affect our overweight population.

Until now, no one has discussed how much money is being spent on obesity.

At an event to kick off the fight against childhood obesity, the Michelle Obama said, “Economic experts tell us that we are spending outrageous amounts of money treating obesity-related conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.”

A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with a not for profit research group called RTI International, found that the direct and indirect cost of obesity “is as high as $147 billion annually.”

The study collected data in 2006, and found that obese patients spent an average $1,429 more for their medical care than did people within a normal weight range.  It works out to be a 42 percent higher health care cost for people who are obese.

The CDC study found that Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers increased spending due to obesity from 6.5 percent in 1998 to 9.1 percent in 2006. The figure includes prescription drug costs.

Health Affairs, a medical journal, found that the costs of hospitalizations related to childhood obesity rose from $125.9 million in 2001 to $237.6 million in 2005.

Bottom Line:  Lose weight and every American wins.  America spends as much as $147 billion annually on the direct and indirect costs of obesity, and if every single person took responsibility for their own weight management we could potentially save billions of dollars each year.  

SOURCE:  http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/health/healthy_living/fact-check:-the-cost-of-obesity

SOURCE:  http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/02/09/fact.check.obesity/index.html