If you're an everyday athlete -- a Saturday night softball league pitcher, a runner who beats the pavement nightly, a biker who braves back country trails, a hard-core gym rat, or any other fitness enthusiast you may be just the person Gatorade is looking for.

One catch ... your name has to be Serena.

Gatorade is going to launch a new campaign for its G2 sports drink. They're looking for everyday athletes (who happen to be named Serena) to star in commercials with tennis great, Serena Williams. Shape magazine has the details.

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I just had the TV on and the above commercial ran. I about choked on my glass of water when I read the fine print:

• Results Not Typical. Clinical studies have shown average caloric intake was reduced by 12.5 percent to 30 percent.
• Cartoon Dramatization. Results not typical. Real people require diet and exercise to lose body fat.
  

Bummer. I'm a real person so I guess I can't expect to lose weight as quickly as that cartoon did.

A recent study theorized that banning fast food commercials would have a positive impact on childhood obesity. After all, most kids watch an awful lot of television -- being tempted by burgers and fries (not to mention the toys they're packaged with) can be a big draw. Pair that with the potential sleep problems and loss of physical activity due to TV watching and you've got a recipe for childhood obesity. Or do you?

I asked That's Fit readers what they thought about banning fast food commercials. Here are the results:

• 56.6 percent think banning fast food commercials is a good idea. Remove the temptation and maybe kids would beg and plead for fast food less often.
• 34.5 percent of you think kids will still want fast food, whether they see it on commercials or not.
  
• 8.7 percent of you voted for other. Many comments focused on the fact that it shouldn't matter whether kids see commercials or not -- parents should determine the types of food that their family is eating. Kids shouldn't be the ones who dictate what they eat.

Do you think you're up on knowledge about childhood obesity? Take this AOL Health childhood obesity quiz and find out.

Most fast food meals make me feel a little ill -- yet often, when I catch a fast food commercial running on TV, the food looks so good I salivate like Pavlov's dog. That's exactly what those commercials are designed to do -- make you crave a trip to your nearest fast food joint for whatever triple-decker, bacon-packed, artery-clogging burger they're advertising this week.

A recent study reviewed data on nearly 13,000 children to determine how many advertising commercials most children view on TV each week. Researchers believe the commercials have a big impact on the amount of children who eat fast food. They estimate that banning fast food commercials from TV would reduce obesity in children ages 3-11 by 18 percent and by 14 percent in adolescents ages 12-18.

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When it comes to eating, we all could use a little reminder now and then about what we're putting in our stomachs -- and bodies. The NYC Department of Health thinks so, anyway. They've launched a series of posters that will be appearing in Subway cars all over the metropolis. Read 'em before you eat 'em is the theme of the campaign -- click on the thumbnails below to see the ads:

What do you think of the posters? Personally, I think this is a fantastic idea -- right up there with calorie counts on menus. Realizing how bad (or good) your favourite fast foods meals are is the first step towards making healthy choices every day.

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I'm far more impressed when a brand uses an athlete to promote their sporting equipment or fitness attire than when they use a regular celebrity. I like to believe that, if an athlete is promoting it, he or she probably wears it, so it can't be all bad. It's a flawed belief, I know, but it works for me.

Adidas is hoping that women across the nation share my belief -- they've tapped Rainbeau Mars, yogini extraordinaire, to promote their yoga line. Next spring, Adidas Performance Stores across the nation will carry the new Rainbeau Mars Signature yoga activewear collection, which will be made from sustainable fabrics.

According to Adidas, Rainbeau had plenty of input in the creation of the collection, offering insight into what female yoga practitoners really need. In addition to that, the well-known yogini has done a series of ads for the brand (which you can see in the gallery) and shot an instructional video featuring famous athletes like Laila Ali and Steffi Graf, all with the theme "Play Yoga."

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We all know by now that French women don't get fat. And it seems the French government is interested in keeping it that way, what with proposed taxes on junk food and laws against images depicting too-thin models. Now the French are taking their message of health to the media and running 'healthy living' ads on TV and radio stations across the nation, as well as in print. Kind of like this one on Fitsugar, which reads 'For your health, eat at least five fruits and veggies a day.'

I think if introduced in North America, these ads would be a refreshing break from all the pizza and fast foods commercials we are bombarded with on such a regular basis. But would they work? What do you think?

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Over the in UK, rules were recently placed on child-targeted advertising, prohibiting them from running junk food ads during popular kids programming. But according to recent reports from the BBC, the rules are not working. The reason? They're not strict enough. In fact, it turns out that only four of the top 20 children's shows are required to adhere to these rules. So some shows, like The Simpsons, are not allowed to run junk food ads during commercial breaks, while other like Beat the Star (which attracts half a million children!) can.

However, it's still estimated that the amount of junk food ads that children see on British TV has been reduced by around 50%. It's a start, but I'm still hoping for 100%.

What do you think about kid-targeted advertising? Is it a parent's responsibility to restrict what their kids see on TV? Or should advertising companies back off and stop aiming at impressionable minds?

(via Calorie Lab)

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In 1980, when Brooke Shields was just a teenager, she did a few Calvin Klein jeans ads with the famous tagline, "You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing." It appears the same has held true nearly 30 years later -- she showed up at a party for the designer's 40th anniversary wearing the same jeans. And yep, those are it in the picture.

Aside from the Calvins, Brooke obviously has pretty good genes of her own. But, genetics alone doesn't allow a 43-year-old woman and mother to fit into jeans she wore when she was 14 or 15, and Brooke shared a couple of her slim-down secrets, including cutting down on carbs.

She said, "If I stay away from too much carbohydrates, I'm usually better off," but that doesn't mean she deprives herself, adding, "I don't want to go through life not enjoying." In addition to watching her diet, she keeps her body buff by spinning and practicing yoga. Keep doing whatever you're doing, Brooke -- it's working!

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Think about it: What form of technology has made the single biggest impact in the lives of children over the past 100 years? Computers have revolutionized the world, but I suspect television has made the biggest impact on young people, particularly because they are a captive audience subjected to clever and manipulative advertising that is targeted specifically at them. As such, it's believed that TV advertising is one of the top causes of ever-rising childhood obesity.

This revelation has caused Mark Scott, the Managing Director of the Australian Broadcasting Corp, to push back against kid-targeted advertising, and he's calling for a commercial-free Children's channel to be developed down under.

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The rockers known as the All-American Rejects are all about health, and they tell PEOPLE magazine it's not hard for the group to live healthfully.

"On the road we're just active every day," says rhythm guitarist Mike Kennerty. "We're playing shows. So that really does help. It's when we come off the road that we're not doing anything but sitting around drinking."

Drinking milk is what he means.

The quartet joins a slew of other celebrities donning milk mustaches in the famous Got Milk? ads. The ads, which promote the nutritional benefits of drinking cow's milk, are a bit controversial. Click here for more scoop.

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The Dove Campaign For Real Beauty has been based upon the idea that, while our bodies might have flaws (real or perceived), we're all beautiful. It's a good message, and they're looking to boost the self-esteem of females of all ages, starting with young girls. I'm all for it -- it's important that women realize that they don't need to be able to trade clothes with their favorite actress or be stalked by paparazzi in order to be beautiful.

However, some discussion has recently surfaced saying that the women in the Real Beauty ads were retouched. Premiere retoucher, Pascal Dangin, told The New Yorker that there was a great deal of retouching done on those ads, "But it was great to do, a challenge, to keep everyone's skin and faces showing the mileage but not looking unattractive."

What do you think about this development? I can't say I'm surprised -- I appreciate the fact that Dove still used women of different shapes and sizes. I mean, these are regular women being photographed and filmed in their undies! I can't say I would object to a little digital help were I in their position. But, others feel that it destroys the message -- they're not showing "real" beauty if there's retouching. What do you think?

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Everytime I glance at a cigarette pack, I'm greeted with a disturbing image of black lungs and rotting teeth. Whenever I turn on the TV, I witness an upsetting commercial on the dangers of drinking or drugs. But though its effects are just as deadly, I never see any sort of ad explaining the harmful effects of being obese. Rather, it's the complete opposite -- all ads highly exalt fattening foods with carefully crafted ads aimed at the gullible consumer. Do you see something wrong here?

The author of this article thinks so -- advertising is tailored to obesity, and with the exception of ads for weight-loss pills and products, there are few ads on TV that will make us consider the destructive effects that living on a diet of junk food will have on our health.

No one is advocating ads that make fun of those overweight, but something needs to be done, don't you think? A Surgeon General's warning of the effects of obesity printed on to French fry containers, soda cans and cheeseburger wrappers, perhaps? What do you think?

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I'm confused. Do the editors of women's magazines want us to lose 10 pounds instantly or stuff our faces with the sugary, fatty treats they advertise? The magazine sitting in front of me right now -- I won't mention any names -- features a full-page ad for Hostess 100-calorie packs of cupcakes. One hundred calories -- great, if you don't care about the fat and sugar in these sweet little treats.

In the same magazine, there's a recipe for chocolate cupcakes topped with chocolate frosting and a lollipop too. There's more -- macaroni & cheese; sweet, salty, and crunchy granola bars; waffles; Rice Krispies Treats; and creamy salad dressings. Then, readers learn how to lose a quick five pounds. Hey, I have an idea -- how about not eating anything splashed all over the ads?

Maybe it's how magazines stay in business -- by fattening up the audience and then enticing them into setting hard-to-reach diet and exercise goals. And so readers never make progress and keep coming back for more, sure one day to find the magic fix for looking and feeling good. The funny thing is, there is a fix. It's just not magical. Eat less than you burn. Or burn more than you eat. Either way, it's simple. So I say, enjoy your women's magazines. Just ignore the food ads and heed most of the diet and fitness advice. Then, you'll be on the right track.

Until recently, Apple computers had a new campaign for their iMac that said "You can't be too thin, or too powerful." but it caused so much controversy they ended up changing it. The Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness called on Apple to rethink the message they were sending, stating "What kind of message is Apple sending our youth with an ad campaign of this nature?"

What do you think, was Apple's slogan in bad taste? I hate the stigma of today's media pressuring young people to be ultra-thin as much as the next person, but electronics are another story. Can't we separate the two?

I can see the point of how a message like that could easily be misconstrued, but if the modeling and fashion industries were promoting healthy images this wouldn't even be an issue -- the slogan would be about computers and that's it. Seems like people are getting all bent out of shape over side issues instead of the real problem.

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