Children targets of $1.6 billion in food ads.

FTC advises that popular characters be tied to healthful products.

The commission studied spending directed at children ages 2-17. Spending on soda marketing came to $492 million, with the vast majority of that spending directed toward adolescents. For cereals, companies spent about $237 million, with the vast majority of that targeted to children under age 12.

SUNDAY, July 13 (HealthDay News) -- Even though it's summertime, children shouldn't be allowed to take a vacation from healthy eating habits, advises Dr. Sarah Armstrong, a pediatrician at Duke University Medical Center.

"Routines go haywire, and with nothing to do after a few days in the pool, kids head straight for the refrigerator or snack bar, because they think they're hungry, when they're actually just bored," Armstrong said in a university news release.

In a perfect world, we'd all eat fresh fruit and veggies, low fat, high protein foods and fast foods would be non-existent.

But since we all live in the real world, fast food is a reality for nearly all of us.
Simply stated - Americans love fast food.

To answer the question of how much is too much, many nutritionists would say any amount is too much. Fast food is an overly processed collection of salty, saturated fats that offer little in terms of nutrition. And for the most part, the nutritionists are right.

More than three-quarters of new mothers (77 percent) are breast-feeding their infants, the highest rate in at least 20 years, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in report issued Wednesday.

MONDAY, April 7 (HealthDay News) -- Schools that serve healthier foods, offer nutrition education and reward students for nutritious eating habits can make a major difference in preventing childhood obesity, according to a Temple University study.