Certain experts are now advising the government to step in and prevent food and drink advertisers from pushing their unhealthy choices so heavily on children. According to the stats, $11 billion was spent by the food and beverage industry last year in advertising for mostly high-calorie, nutritionally weak products. Now experts are finding companies are increasingly targeting children through the Internet, product placement and other activities. It’s no wonder 9 million U.S. children and teenagers, or about 16 percent, are obese compared with 5 percent in the 1960s. The number of young people with type 2 diabetes, which is linked to obesity, also is on the rise. According to Sen. Tom Harkin, "the onslaught of junk-food marketing is endangering the health of our children."