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AAP Remarks
Thank you, Dr. Rosenberg.  And thanks to Dr. Mary Anne 
McCaffree and the rest of the American Academy of Pediatrics for inviting 
me to be a part of your Legislative Conference this year.  I understand that 
this is the 18th year that pediatricians have come to this event to gain the 
skills necessary to become effective advocates of children’s health concerns, 
and this could not be a better moment in time for your advocacy! I can think 
of no better voice to represent these issues than you- the pediatricians 
treating our children. For all of your extraordinary work, I would like to 
thank you, not just as an FCC commissioner, but as a proud mother of three.  
My work with pediatricians spans several decades—of course beginning 
with our own pediatrician-Dr. David Thombs one of the most respected 
pediatricians in Tennessee, but also in larger, public policy issues such as 
expanding ESPDT in our Medicaid program you all have undoubtedly heard 
about-Tenncare; helping write a separate chapter in our mental health code
for children and youth, representing abused and neglected children in 
Juvenile court for many years, and one of my most prized honors:  being 
selected by the TN Chapter as its “Friend of the Child” recipient for work 
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trying to get the SCHIP program for Tennessee; which 10 years later may 
finally become a reality!
As you can imagine, I give a lot of speeches about important issues 
facing the FCC and indeed our country:  from our new Homeland Security 
Bureau, to the digital transition (which, by the way, please go to our website 
and get the consumer guide before you purchase one of those big expensive 
TVs that may not work after Feb. 09!!), to some of the largest corporate 
mergers in US history,  to requiring all telecom providers to coordinate E911 
calls, to those you probably read about the most:  indecency and content 
related issues on TV.
However, when I went to the FCC, I vowed that I would continue to 
be a voice for parents and children on issues that we have some authority 
over.  While I am an attorney by training and certainly respect the 1st
Amendment, I truly believe that our children are this country’s most 
valuable assets, and the government should treat them as such.  You all are 
the first to know that in order to ensure they reach their greatest potential, we 
must make certain to create a healthy environment for both their minds and
their bodies.  Obviously, this is a task that every parent faces—and one you 
assist with almost daily--- but parents cannot do it alone.  This is a task that 
will take our entire society.
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With the arrival of digital and satellite television, not to mention cell 
phones and facebook, we have available to us a seemingly infinite number of 
platforms of information and entertainment with a click. Along with that, 
though, our children have gained an exposure to certain imageries and 
influences that can have a very negative impact on their development.  The 
violence children witness on television can act as a direct counterweight 
against the attitudes and social lessons that we try to instill in them as 
parents.
As you may have read recently in the press, Congress asked the FCC
to study and report back to them, the effects of television violence on 
children.  The results were, to a mother of 2 boys, not surprising. I especially 
appreciated the pediatricians and other specialists and researchers who 
provided strong evidence into the record about the negative effects on 
children including that the exposure to violent television programs can cause 
desensitization—losing the ability to be empathetic.  Some research 
confirms that exposure to excessive violence can lead to more aggressive or 
even violent behavior later in life.  While many media companies dispute the 
research and our report, over 80% of parents agree with us and believe that 
violent television programs alter their children’s behavior.  Such exposure, 
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as you all know, can also lead to sleep abnormalities, inconsolable
nightmares, and even an increased fear of becoming victims themselves. So 
whether you believe there is a direct corollary to violent behavior, there are 
numerous negative effects on children …and No child deserves that.
CORE Programming
I don’t want to give you the wrong impression, though. This is not 
about casting blame; this is about harnessing the power and potential of the 
media to be an exceedingly positive influence on our children.  A prime 
example – in the 1990s, thanks in large part to the collaborative efforts of the 
FCC, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and others, television stations 
began airing at least 3 hours of CORE-educational programming for children 
under age 16 every week, with very limited amounts of commercial time.  
We have enhanced that recently and even now are working on limitations on 
the media websites where children are directed.  And in 1996, upon the 
urging of Congress and a number of advocacy groups such as yours, the 
television industry voluntarily implemented a ratings system for viewers to 
quickly ascertain the nature of its programming and the age range for which 
it is appropriate, enabling parents to more easily and more accurately 
monitor the television viewing of their children.
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Ratings Systems
Despite these great strides, though, we still have much more work to 
do.  For example, the ratings system for television programs is significantly 
inconsistent between networks.  Often, one network will perceive a certain 
level of violence as at least “moderate” and apply a “V” label to the show’s 
rating.  Another network might air the same level of violence and feel that it 
is less than moderate, applying no warning about violent content 
whatsoever.  Also, of exceptional risk to younger children, much violent 
content in children’s shows is labeled simply “FV” for fantasy violence.  
Even fantasy violence, though, can seriously impact a child less than 7 years 
old. And, sometimes the network will stop with one rating label even if the 
show actually has sexual content, indecent language AND violence. I think it 
is time to address these inconsistencies.
To adequately address this problem, the television industry must adopt 
more consistent, accurate guidelines for rating the content of their 
programming.  These new guidelines should take into account the 
discrepancies between the networks’ subjective perception of its shows’ 
content and parents’ assessment – almost 40% of parents feel that TV ratings 
are inaccurate.  At least one study agrees with those parents, citing that 2/3 
of high-risk shows with violence were inaccurately rated.
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Of course, the debate regarding the impact of violence in the media is 
not a new one.  It actually first drew congressional attention in 1952, when 
the House convened a hearing on the subject.  A year later, the Senate took 
up the matter.  Unfortunately, during the 54 years since then, the 
entertainment industry has consistently recycled the same rhetoric and spin it 
used during those hearings, and the problem persists.  Though I prefer self-
regulation first, the industry has passed on far too many opportunities to do 
so.  The well-being of our children is too important to wait any longer.
Just as in the push for more educational programming, the Academy 
has great potential to take a leading role in the advancement of more 
appropriate ratings guidelines.  From your unique perspective of both the 
physical and mental health of children, you can provide state and federal 
government officials, industry executives, and even parents with a wealth of 
insights into the proper balance of media exposure for healthy development 
and methods by which that may be achieved, and I hope you will join in a 
discussion of improving the entire rating system.
Parental awareness of Violence in the Media
As you well know, dealing with children and parents every day, 
changes on the industry side are only half of the equation, though.  Parents 
must also become more informed about the resources already available to 
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them to protect their children from violence on television.  The ratings 
system will only be effective if parents understand the descriptor codes.  
Only about half of all parents are able to identify the “V” as an indicator of 
violence, and only 12% of parents can define the “FV” as fantasy violence.  
Almost as many parents, 8%, interpreted “FV” to mean “Family Viewing.”
Additionally, parents are largely unaware of the potential for or even 
the existence of the V-chip, which parents can use to block out selected 
programming from their television sets that they do not want reaching their 
children.  Unfortunately, though, 2 in 5 parents are unaware that their
televisions are even equipped with the V-chip.  Of those who are aware, less 
than half have actually used it.  But of those who have used the V-chip, 
almost 90% said that it was useful to them in protecting their children from 
unwanted content.  
As parents, we have the responsibility to be aware of what our 
children watch and to talk to them about what they see in the media.  As 
pediatricians, you have an invaluable role in advocating not only to your 
elected officials about violence in the media and the tools available to 
families, but also acting as advocates to parents – informing them about the 
affects of violent programming on their children, encouraging them to sit 
down with their children to talk about what they see on television, 
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explaining the ratings guidelines, or even advising them to just turn off the 
television sometimes. Nickelodeon, for instance has a “Day of Play” where 
the screen goes black and it says “GO OUT AND PLAY”.  I wish more 
networks and more parents would do the same; but not just for 1 out of 365 
afternoons; but what about limiting TV and computer to the rest of those 364 
days a year!
Healthy Lifestyles
In addition to nurturing their mental well-being, though, we must also 
work to encourage healthy lifestyles and physical well-being.  In the past, I 
focused my energy on advocating for better schools, working toward 
increasing the rate of childhood immunizations, and representing neglected 
and abused children.  Today, and through our authority to regulate children’s 
TV, I have turned my attention to a new epidemic that is charging to the 
forefront of children’s health concerns: obesity.
Childhood Obesity
You know the statistics better than anyone in the country. Over 10 
million children are obese or at risk of obesity and by some counts 1 in 4 
youth and teens are overweight. To parents, the most apparent problem is 
likely the low self-esteem and even depression that being overweight creates 
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in young people, but the health consequences are even more staggering.  In 
addition to heart problems, overweight and obese children must contend 
with significantly higher risks of health defects, such as Type 2 diabetes—
which was basically unknown when I grew up—but doubled in prevalence 
with the rise of childhood obesity.  
Costs
While our most pressing concern is that of the well-being of our 
children, of course, the rising costs associated with this issue must be 
addressed as well.  In a time of concerns over meeting the funding needs of
the U.S. health care programs, obesity should be a major focus. While we 
don’t yet know the indirect costs such as child care costs or lost school-time, 
childhood obesity alone creates over $150 million in medical expenses.  Not 
to mention that obese children are twice as likely to become obese adults.  
Obesity-related medical expenses are a growing percentage of our national 
health care costs, accounting for almost 10% of medical expenses and over 
$100 billion dollars, about half of which were covered by Medicare and 
Medicaid.  The pressure on my home state of Tennessee alone is well over a 
billion dollars a year to be paid for by state health care programs.  This 
national epidemic is putting an unbearable strain on our health care system.
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Task Force
So how do we even begin to combat such a colossal crisis?  To start, 
we have to change the eating and fitness habits of our children.  Our kids are 
constantly being bombarded with advertisements for junk foods and soft 
drinks; not just by the media, but the internet and even inside their own 
school cafeterias. That’s why the FCC and Senators Tom Harkin and Sam 
Brownback teamed up with your own Marjorie Tharp and representatives 
from many other organizations, including non-profit groups and
representatives of the food and beverage and advertising industries, to form 
the Task Force on Media and Childhood Obesity.  Our mission, as you 
probably know, is to chart out recommendations for advertisers and food 
manufacturers to approach children through the media with a healthier 
agenda in mind.  
Ad Statistics
The Kaiser Family Foundation recently reported that children between 
the ages of 2 and 7 watch an average of 12 commercials for food each day.  
Teenagers see about 17 a day, and 8 to 12 year olds watch 21 food 
commercials each day.  In a time when children are very impressionable and 
are just becoming independent consumers, that’s 7600 food commercials 
each year! Though parents must take the initiative to monitor their 
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children’s television viewing and to just say “no” when their children ask for 
foods that are high in fat, salt, and sugar, we can’t ask them to stand alone 
against more than $10 billion of advertising that these industries target at 
our children every year.  
As with the entertainment industry, though, the media and the food 
and beverage industry are not our enemies.  On the contrary, they have the 
opportunity to become very powerful allies in this fight.   For example, the 
National Advertising Review Council brought together 10 of the largest food 
and beverage companies, including Kraft, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, and 
PepsiCo, to establish the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising 
Initiative, pledging to devote half their advertising dollars spent on 
marketing to children, including Internet and other media forms, to promote 
healthier diets and healthier lifestyles. Nickelodeon has partnered with 
the Alliance for a Healthier Generation in an attempt to reach out to 2 
million kids and encourage them to adopt healthier eating habits and to get 
more exercise. The Discovery Channel helps families lose weight and has a 
health challenge annually. Disney has totally changed their properties to 
serve healthier choices.  And there are many more such leaders in the media.
In this fight, there are no enemies.  However, there are allies who have 
not yet reached their full potential.  
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Children under 8 years old still view 26 junk food ads for every 1 ad 
about fitness or nutrition.  The ratio for preteens is 48 to 1, and for 
teenagers, 130 to 1!  Obviously, our children are still receiving an 
unhealthy, disproportionate amount of advertising favoring foods that are 
high in fat, sodium, and sugar over healthy diets and healthy fitness habits.  
But how do we know that changes in advertising to children will be effective
in curbing their over-consumption of these foods?  In the words of Dr. 
McGinnis, chairman of the Institute of Medicine, “We know it’ll work 
because advertising works.”
Again, though, while more responsible food advertising practices will 
help, childhood obesity will not be eliminated simply by changing what they 
see on television.  The responsibility is on all of us – including the 
government, teachers, parents, doctors, and even the children themselves –
to find the solution.
Educational system and Arkansas
Our education systems can, and have, played a major role in this 
struggle.  In Florida, Governor Crist just signed a bill into law mandating at 
least half an hour of physical education each day in all elementary schools.  
Those of you from Arkansas have given the rest of us reason to be 
optimistic.  That state, which Gov. Huckabee called the “fatest state in the 
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union” launched a statewide initiative and began monitoring students’ 
weight, changing school diets, encouraging active lifestyles, and advising 
parents of health concerns as a part of the wildly successful Healthy 
Arkansas initiative, and the rate of childhood obesity was actually halted in
its footsteps-in 3 years.  
But we still have so much more work to do.  
Statistics on TV
Obviously, parents must take personal responsibility as well.  In a 
typical childhood full television and video games, surfing the Web and 
instant messenger, parents must also learn to turn off the TV and shut down 
the computer.  On average, children spend 25 hours a week watching TV!  
Compare that to the 30 hours spent in school or the meager 17 hours spent 
with their parents!  But parents are on the right path.  From 1994 to 2003, 
the number of parents of 3-5 year olds who limited television time rose from 
54% to 67%.  Parents are beginning to get the message. Luckily, parents 
aren’t alone.  We have pediatricians such as you to advise us on a healthy 
lifestyle for our children, a responsibility which you must approach not only 
seriously, but aggressively.  
Advocacy and Policy
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As pediatricians and members of the American Academy of 
Pediatrics, you are in a unique position to speak with convincing authority 
on these pressing issues.  You deal first-hand with the problems that officials 
at the state and federal level typically are only able to talk about.  You have 
the ability to act as a direct link between parents & children and policy-
makers, helping formulate these policies and then have put them into action 
yourselves.  You’ve seen the negative effects of violence in the media on 
young children.  You’ve seen the positive impacts of increased educational 
programming.  And you’ve even been pained as you’ve witnessed childhood 
obesity rates rise among your own patients.  I don’t think there could be a 
more convincing source of advocacy than you in America.
The solutions to these problems facing our children will not only be 
found in the entertainment, advertising, or food manufacturing industries; it 
won’t be found only in our schools or in the government; and it won’t be 
found only with parents either.  The answer lies in the cooperation of all of 
those facets of a child’s life.  This is not any one individual person, 
government agency, or company’s problem.  This is all our problem, and we 
must come together as a community to find the solution.  Otherwise, we will 
have failed our children together ... and they deserve better than that.  
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I thank you for your efforts here in Washington and at home and join 
you in your passion for the betterment of our children’s lives.  Thank you so
very much.
(Brief question and answer session)
(Time: between 17.5 and 18 minutes)