Kellogg curbs ads to kids.

For 30 years, we've tried to stop companies from advertising junk food to children. In June, we moved closer to that goal.

Back in January 2006, two Massachusetts parents (Sherri Carlson and Andrew Leong) and two consumer groups (the Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood and the Center for Science in the Public Interest, publisher of Nutrition Action) announced plans to sue Kellogg for targeting kids with ads for unhealthy foods.

"As a parent, I do my best to get my kids to eat healthy foods," said Carlson, a mother of three.

"But then they turn on Nickelodeon and see all those enticing junk-food ads. Adding insult to injury, we enter the grocery store and see our beloved Nick characters plastered on all those junky snacks and cereals."

In December 2005, a landmark report from the Institute of Medicine concluded that food advertising aimed at kids is "at worst, a direct threat to the health of the next generation."

"Even as rates of childhood obesity have soared, Kellogg hasn't listened," said the Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood's Susan Linn in 2006. "We can no longer stand by as our children's health is sacrificed for corporate profits."

I'm glad to report that in June, we dropped our plans to sue Kellogg when it agreed to change what and how it sells to children.

The company announced that any foods advertised on TV, in print, on Web sites, or in other media with an audience of at least 50 percent children under age 12 would have to meet its "nutrient criteria."

Those standards limit each serving of food to no more than 200 calories, 2 grams of saturated fat and 0 grams of trans fat, 230 milligrams of sodium (460 mg for Eggo frozen waffles), and 12 grams of sugar (excluding natural sugars from fruit or dairy).

Kellogg also agreed to continue its practice of not advertising to children under the age of six. And it promised not to:

* advertise any foods in elementary schools and preschools;

* sponsor product placements for any foods in movies, TV shows, or other media aimed primarily at kids under 12; or

* feature licensed characters on front food labels or in ads directed to kids under 12 unless the foods meet the nutrient criteria.

Those are built-in incentives for the company to improve not just cereals, but Keebler cookies, Cheez-Its, and other child-oriented foods.

We hope that Kellogg's new policy spurs other companies, like General Mills and Burger King, to adopt even stronger policies.

While the settlement with Kellogg represents progress, there's still work to be done.

Yes, ads for Cocoa Krispies, Apple Jacks, and Pop-Tarts will disappear. But they'll be replaced by ads for Frosted Flakes, Rice Krispies Treats cereal, Fruit Twistables, and other foods that sneak in just under Kellogg's nutrient criteria.

To truly protect our children's health, Congress needs to pass a law that doesn't just bar the marketing of the least healthy foods, but that allows only the marketing of the most healthy ones.

Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D.

Executive Director

Center for Science in the Public Interest