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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Stewart

DATE TYPED 2-15-05

HB 753

SHORT TITLE Public School Media Literacy Program

SB

ANALYST Collard

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

$100.0

Non-recurring General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to HB 61, HB 598/SB 595, SB 10, SJM 2

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Health (DOH)

Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 753 appropriates $100 thousand from the general fund to DOH for the purpose of de-

veloping a media literacy program on the relationship between childhood obesity and advertising

for use in kindergarten through high school.

Significant Issues

DOH indicates media literacy seeks to assist young people in making better food choices by

critically analyzing and resisting unhealthy advertising messages. Media marketing of unhealthy

food to children through various forms of media, for example television advertising, in-school

marketing, sponsorship, product placement, Internet marketing, and sales promotions, is a seri-

ous world wide problem and is recognized as contributing to the obesity of children by the World

Health Organization in 2004.

During the past decade, the number of children who are overweight has more than doubled. Na-

House Bill 753 -- Page 2

tionwide, 16 percent of children and teens ages 6 to 19 were overweight in 1999-2002, and an-

other 15 percent were considered at risk of becoming overweight. Increased weight has been

seen in New Mexico youth. In a 2003 survey of New Mexico high school students, 13 percent

were at risk of overweight and 10 percent were overweight.

Healthful eating habits in childhood prevent chronic overweight, under nutrition and growth re-

tardation as well as immediate childhood health problems such as iron-deficiency anemia and

dental caries. There is a pressing need for United States children to achieve eating and physical

activity patterns that will enable them to attain healthful weights and prevent long-term health

problems, such as coronary heart disease, cancer, stroke, and osteoporosis.

Type 2 diabetes, previously considered an adult disease, has increased dramatically among chil-

dren and adolescents. In New Mexico, a disproportionate incidence of diabetes and obesity is

found among Native American and Hispanic youth.

PED adds 61 percent of adults in the United States were overweight or obese in 1999. Approxi-

mately 300,000 deaths each year in the United States may be attributable to obesity. Overweight

and obesity are associated with heart disease, certain types of cancer, type 2 diabetes, stroke, ar-

thritis, breathing problems and psychological disorders like depression.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $100 thousand contained in this bill is a non-recurring expense to the gen-

eral fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY06 shall revert

to the general fund.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

DOH notes the activities in this bill could be accomplished with current DOH staff.

RELATIONSHIP

House Bill 753 relates to House Bill 61, which establishes rules regarding foods and beverages

sold and distributed in public schools, outside of school meal programs, to students; House Bill

598 and its duplicate, Senate Bill 595, which establishes nutritional standards and standard por-

tion sizes for competitive foods and beverages sold and distributed in public and charter schools;

Senate Bill 10, which creates an appropriation for a study and recommendations for current nu-

tritional offerings in New Mexico public schools, restricting the sale of junk food, developing a

curriculum for promoting healthy physical activity, and assessing financial impact on public

schools of the above; and Senate Joint Memorial 2, which directs DOH and PED to work col-

laboratively to make recommendations to increase the physical activity and improve the eating

habits of youth.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

DOH research shows the Kaiser Family Foundation Report on role of media in childhood obesity

cites studies, showing that the typical child sees about 40,000 ads a year on television, and that

the majority of ads targeted to kids are for candy, cereal, soda and fast food. Many of the adver-

tising and marketing campaigns enlist children’s favorite television and movie characters: from

House Bill 753 -- Page 3

SpongeBob Cheez-Its to Scooby-Doo cereals and Teletubbies Happy Meals. The report also cites

research indicating that exposure to food advertising affects children’s food choices and requests

for products in the supermarket.

Additionally, significant promotion of high-fat, high-calorie food during children's programming

has been documented. In an assessment of food advertising during Saturday morning children's

programming, 52.5 hours of viewing netted 564 food advertisements, comprising more than half

of all advertisements. On average, 11 of 19 commercials per hour were for food, exposing chil-

dren to an average of one food commercial every five minutes. Of these ads, 246 (43.6 percent)

fell into the fats, oils, and sweets group, promoting foods such as candy, soft drinks, chocolate

syrup/powder, chips, cakes, cookies, and pastries. Fast-food restaurant advertising was also

prevalent during children's programming, comprising nearly 11 percent of total advertisements.

There were no advertisements for fruits or vegetables.

Children who are overweight are more likely than normal-weight children to become obese

adults, which increases their lifetime risk of coronary heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes

mellitus, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, and some cancers. Children who are overweight also

often experience psychological stress, poor body image, and low self-esteem. In addition to dia-

betes, obese children have a higher incidence of orthopedic problems, liver disease, and asthma.

KBC/yr