PBS, Nickelodeon tuck health messages
into popular kids shows
By Elyse Andrews, USA TODAY

Television has come under fire as parents and health experts, concerned about increasing rates of childhood obesity, blame the tube for kids' sedentary habits.

But TV is fighting back. PBS and Nickelodeon feature healthful lifestyle options for kids this summer.

A Monday episode of Sesame Street marked the beginning of PBS Kids' Happy Healthy Summer initiative. It's designed to encourage children to lead healthful lifestyles by doing such things as eating balanced meals, exercising and taking regular trips to the dentist.

Every Monday through Aug. 29, health messages will be included in one of the regularly scheduled kids shows via cameo appearances by Grover, a star of Sesame Street.

Shows such as Dragon Tales, Clifford the Big Red Dog and Barney will incorporate messages such as "too many sweets can make kids feel sick" and "it's important to exercise and be active." Grover's role is to pop in and encourage children to run, jump, dance and play.

PBS also offers diet and exercise advice, including recipes, tips and games, at pbskids.org, where a program guide can be found.

Parents will be able to get advice about encouraging healthful eating habits and other health-related topics on pbsparents.org. "It's really easy to see the need for this," says John Wilson, senior vice president of programming at PBS. "It's a great campaign for the summer."

Teaching children such healthful habits as being open to a wide variety of foods is the main goal of the program, says Rosemarie Truglio, vice president of education and research at Sesame Workshop.

Nickelodeon's "Let's Just Play" campaign, in which airtime is devoted several times a week to emphasizing the importance of play, culminates in an Oct. 1 Worldwide Day of Play. The network will black out its programming for three hours that day to encourage children to play. For more information, go to www.nick.com.

"I think that the ultimate good of the program is to make kids feel responsible for their own well-being," says Cyma Zarghami, president of Nickelodeon Television. "We want to put the power back in the kids' hands."

But while media observers and pediatricians agree that the messages are positive, they're not so sure that the intentions are wholly pure.

"We always look for a positive message from our media outlets," says Donald Shifrin of the American Academy of Pediatrics. "Nick is doing a great job . . . but the ad partners in the programming are not exactly the messages we're going to endorse," he says, referring to ads for foods packed with calories, sugar and preservatives.

Tessa Jolls of the Center for Media Literacy applauds the networks but says their efforts fall short. "Any attempt to aid the problem is laudable, but it doesn't begin to equip the child with the tools they need to think critically."

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