Shaping America's Youth

Shaping America's Youth (SAY) is a private-public partnership "created to identify and centralize information on what is being done across American society to reverse the rapidly increasing prevalence of overweight and inactivity among children and adolescents."

SAY is also an Industry-funded organization, receiving money from Nike, Campbell Soup and Johnson & Johnson. SAY was created by Academic Network LLC, a health industry-focused PR and telecommunications firm. 

On September 29, 2004, SAY "released survey results from 1,100 groups working on childhood obesity. But, according to a lawyer representing food companies, [SAY is] really a 'front group', collecting information on public interest groups for industry's benefit," reported Michele Simon, director of the Center for Informed Food Choices. According to Simon, through SAY's survey, "industry is apparently duping public interest groups into providing details about their activities that can then potentially be used against them." 

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 * Intimidating public interest groups
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