No Bumps With Obama, Says 8 year-old Trisha In Telling Us Why She Wants Barack Obama for President

This morning I was reading an article about children and their response to the election and I came across this CNN IReport video of Trisha, an eight year-old girl, a thinker, and according to the note from her parent, a child who has been interested in politics and wants to be president one day. There is hope that intelligent and passionate leaders will come from this generation.

The Scholastic Election Poll has been polling school children for at least 68 years. Poll takers said their poll has reflected the outcome of the actual election all but twice since 1940. A quarter of a million students participated in the poll. This year, Obama won with 57 percent to McCain's 39 percent.

Trisha, 8, of Naperville, Illinois, was so excited about Obama's candidacy that she told her mother to make a video of her giving reasons to vote for him. This was posted along with the video by her parent:

"This is about passion of a 8-year old who lives in Naperville Illinois to make sure to elect Barack Obama as our next President. This is all spontaneous, none whatsoever influenced by parents. Trisha talks about why Barack Obama is the right choice and why John McCain is not. This video was shot in our backyard. Trisha is a compassionate leader, spontaneous speaker, great writer and a reader. She has written to former VP Al Gore regarding Naperville not signing up to Kyoto treaty standards. She wants to be a president when she grows up."






~Linda

"They're grrreat!" - A Look at TV Commercials for Food and Drugs

My favorite cereal as a kid, and even today, is Tony Tiger’s "They’re grrreat!" Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes. I loved the TV commercials from Tony Tiger back in the early 1950s. We always had Wheaties in our home, Daddy’s favorite, along with Sugar Frosted Flakes, Shredded Wheat, Grape Nuts, Rice Krispies, Cherrios, Quaker Oatmeal or Cream of Wheat or Rice. I don’t buy Frosty Flakes often today, but I really enjoy them when I do!

A new study regarding children’s TV ads about foods links childhood obesity increased rates to the number of food ads children are exposed to. This makes little sense to me because, for one thing, young children are not out there doing their own shopping or visiting a fast food restaurant on their own. Often I’ve been in the grocery store while a parent, usually a mother, with a small child is in the cereal row. I’ve heard the child asking for a certain cereal, one that would be considered high in sugar, and I’ve heard a mother say quietly, "No, we will have this one," picking up a healthier brand. The opposition from the young child doesn’t usually last long.

I recall my preschool aged kids learning to read and recognizing cereals from TV commercials while grocery shopping. They were both very early readers, and reading cereal boxes was a part of learning. And no, my kids were not overweight.

The responsibility for balanced eating habits is not with young children, but with parents. And other changes have influenced, such as changes in our school systems–the removal of daily gym classes from curriculums–and economic conditions–the need for two working parents–and time restraints in a more chaotic and expensive society.

But there is something of a much greater concern to me. It is not the food commercials or the food shows that may or may not be influencing Americans but the pharmaceutical commercials that bombard us constantly on television. We have become a nation of prescription drugs users (and over-users), buying into the direct-to-consumer billion dollar advertising campaign of the pharmaceutical industry. Anti-depressants, anti-anxiety, anti-ulcer, anti-cholesterol, anti-impotence, anti-allergy, anti-inflammatory, anti-hypertension, anti-whatever. It is no wonder prescription drug costs are so high with a budget of billions spent on TV and print advertising. Some of these drug ads are required in their "product-claim" to list risks, and hearing those contraindications should be enough for a thinking person to re-consider and seek an alternative. How many prescription drugs have been pulled off the market in recent time due to complications and supposed unknown risk? Too many. I personally feel strongly that everyone needs to play an "informed part" in one’s own medical care and decisions, but I also know how doctors tend to over-prescribe, especially anti-depressants for adults, and even children. And I’m sure if you see a drug that sounds as if it would "fit" you on television, and if you ask, you will probably leave your doctor’s office with an RX in hand (maybe his alternative choice of that drug–his pharmaceutical vendor–a kick-back?). But don’t forget, you also have choices in your care if you feel a prescribed medication is not what you want.

By the way, this children’s TV ad research was conducted by a medical entity, Kaiser Family Research Foundation, and reported by AP, March 28. 2007.

Some day while watching TV for several hours, count the number of drug ads. It’s ridiculous! And enjoy a nice big bowl of Tony Tiger’s Frosty Flakes while doing so! As Tony says, "They’re grrreat!"

~ Linda