‘Feeding Kids Meat Is Child Abuse,’ Warns PETA Billboard

Puerto Rico Parents to Receive Eye-Catching Message on Childhood Obesity

For Immediate Release:
February 13, 2015

Contact:
Sophia Charchuk 202-483-7382

On the heels of a recent announcement that the Puerto Rico legislature is considering a bill that would fine parents for failing to bring down their obese children’s weight, PETA is in negotiations to place a billboard that would turn heads on the highway. The ad, designed to remind residents of Puerto Rico that eating meat is linked to obesity and other health conditions, features a pudgy-faced kid about to scarf down a hamburger and reads, “Feeding Kids Meat Is Child Abuse. Fight the Fat: Go Vegan.”

“In addition to facing social challenges caused by childhood obesity, children who are fed a diet laden with saturated animal fat and cholesterol face the risk of developing diabetes and other health problems,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is encouraging caring parents to do the right thing for their children by leaving meat off the table.”

Meat can help make kids fat and sick—but vegan meals can help keep kids healthy. The acclaimed pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock once wrote, “Children who grow up getting their nutrition from plant foods rather than meats … are less likely to develop weight problems, diabetes, high blood pressure, and some forms of cancer.” A recent Cleveland Clinic studyfound that a vegan diet helped obese children reduce their risk of heart disease in just a month.

Animals killed by the meat industry also lead miserable lives and die painfully. As PETA, whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat,” has documented, in today’s meat industry, chickens and turkeys have their throats cut while they’re still conscious, piglets have their tails and testicles cut off without being given any painkillers, and calves are torn away from their mothers within hours of birth.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.