U.S. food companies spend billions of dollars (estimated between $10-$15 billion) annually advertising its products to children. Cartoon characters, free giveaways, interactive websites, movie tie-ins, and other methods are used to draw children in and condition them to want a particular product and become loyal to the brand in question. Oftentimes, the actual food is barely shown.
The importance placed on children is not to be understated. Not only do they impact their caregiver's purchasing habits with unfair manipulation like kicking and screaming, they will also one day be buying for themselves and their own children. It is a potent strategy that gets kids to want to buy now and come back for more. Hopefully, for decades, if the food companies get their way. Research suggests that kids under 18 see up to 20 commercials a day for food. This can equate to over 7,000 over an entire year and over 100,000 over 15 years. How do you counteract this kind of enormous influence?
Take a look at some processed food items the next time you are grocery shopping. What you will likely notice pretty quickly is the amount of food label claims that these producers make: all natural, fat-free, made with real fruit, etc. Of course, these often bogus or misleading claims are always prominently displayed on the front of the package while the important nutritional information is never there. It is always in tiny print amidst the chaos of other mandated information.
Furthermore, with respect to marketing to children, the size of the cartoon character or "brand ambassador") often takes up the entire front portion of the package, dwarfing any pictures of the actual food product. Let's also not forget all of the tomfoolery that goes into creating the food pictures. Did you ever notice that your bowl of cereal never looks as good as the one on the box? It's because they don't use milk, but glue.
Children are easily influenced by a wide variety of things, including advertising. Did you ever see how glued they are to the TV? When they are in this state, their brains are usually in the alpha state, which is the same frequency hypnotists use to plant suggestions in your mind when someone wants to quit smoking or lose weight. So not only are these kids being influenced many times a day, but they are in highly susceptible states, which allows the message to sink right in. I believe the responsibility of a child's health rests with his or her parents, however, these practices need to be exposed.
What steps can you take? First, shopping at stores with healthier products like Wild By Nature, Trader Joe's, or Whole Foods can often eliminate the worst of the food choices, so your child doesn't even have the option of poor nutrition. It is also important to understand what they're watching on TV. You can choose advertisement-free programs or stations or focus only on stations that have rules about advertising to children. Finally, it makes sense to talk to your child about proper nutrition and the importance of avoiding processed foods and dangerous chemicals in the food supply. With up to 20 advertisements a day reaching your child, you can never talk to them too much about healthy food.
The importance placed on children is not to be understated. Not only do they impact their caregiver's purchasing habits with unfair manipulation like kicking and screaming, they will also one day be buying for themselves and their own children. It is a potent strategy that gets kids to want to buy now and come back for more. Hopefully, for decades, if the food companies get their way. Research suggests that kids under 18 see up to 20 commercials a day for food. This can equate to over 7,000 over an entire year and over 100,000 over 15 years. How do you counteract this kind of enormous influence?
Take a look at some processed food items the next time you are grocery shopping. What you will likely notice pretty quickly is the amount of food label claims that these producers make: all natural, fat-free, made with real fruit, etc. Of course, these often bogus or misleading claims are always prominently displayed on the front of the package while the important nutritional information is never there. It is always in tiny print amidst the chaos of other mandated information.
Furthermore, with respect to marketing to children, the size of the cartoon character or "brand ambassador") often takes up the entire front portion of the package, dwarfing any pictures of the actual food product. Let's also not forget all of the tomfoolery that goes into creating the food pictures. Did you ever notice that your bowl of cereal never looks as good as the one on the box? It's because they don't use milk, but glue.
Children are easily influenced by a wide variety of things, including advertising. Did you ever see how glued they are to the TV? When they are in this state, their brains are usually in the alpha state, which is the same frequency hypnotists use to plant suggestions in your mind when someone wants to quit smoking or lose weight. So not only are these kids being influenced many times a day, but they are in highly susceptible states, which allows the message to sink right in. I believe the responsibility of a child's health rests with his or her parents, however, these practices need to be exposed.
What steps can you take? First, shopping at stores with healthier products like Wild By Nature, Trader Joe's, or Whole Foods can often eliminate the worst of the food choices, so your child doesn't even have the option of poor nutrition. It is also important to understand what they're watching on TV. You can choose advertisement-free programs or stations or focus only on stations that have rules about advertising to children. Finally, it makes sense to talk to your child about proper nutrition and the importance of avoiding processed foods and dangerous chemicals in the food supply. With up to 20 advertisements a day reaching your child, you can never talk to them too much about healthy food.
About the Author:
Please see my website for more information at food labels or my blog at dangerous food additives
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