Recently there has been a lot of discussion over banning toys from fast food meals and lawsuits against fast food companies for enticing children to eat fatty foods. Some people are of the opinion that it really doesn’t matter what goody is in a kids meal, it’s the ultimate responsibility of parents what children eat. It’s the parents who drive their children to the burger joints, preschoolers can’t get there by themselves. Right?
Sounds reasonable but unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. Most parents DON’T make sure their children make healthy food choices because THEY don’t make healthy food choices for themselves. They are part of the obesity problem. They need help themselves.
We’re living in a time when young parents may never have even eaten vegetables while growing up. Their kids certainly are not going to learn any healthier habits from them. Jamie Oliver demonstrated that young kids don’t even know the names of vegetables, let alone eat them daily. Unless of course we’re talking about salsa and french fries.
No one likes government telling people what to do but in this case it may just be the only way we’re going to get out of this childhood obesity epidemic. If current parenting methods were working, childhood obesity wouldn’t have tripled over the last 20 years. Kids need help and they need it fast. We don’t have time to wait or expect parents to do something that they’ve proven they aren’t going to do.
Does anyone get irate over having to wear seat belts. No. Another example of legislation taken because too many people were dying and the only way to get people to wear a seat belt was to mandate it. No one complains about seat belts. Or helmets. Or fluoride in water. Isn’t the obesity pandemic as important? Doesn’t it claim far more lives than some of these other things?
The most important point missed in all this is the impact that early associations have in the brain. Repeatedly pairing toys, games and popular movies with unhealthy foods produces a culture of children that grow up believing these foods are good for you. They’re fun. They create fond memories. Memories which are extremely difficult to reprogram later on. They’re familiar and comforting. Remember candy cigarettes? Big tobacco companies know when kids pretend to smoke a candy cigarette they’re associating smoking with fun and future adult behavior. Why do you think they ever started making them – certainly not for additional income from candy sales. The same holds true with fast food establishments. They’re brilliant in the way they seduce young children with irresistible toys to build their future market. It may seem “cute” to see a baby with a french fry in their mouth before they even have teeth but the fast food companies see it more than just cute. They’re rejoicing as another lifelong customer is being cultivated. By the time a child is actually old enough to reason and make a choice, it’s far too late. Fast food companies know this. It’s all part of their marketing plan. All health professionals need to study them and take notes. Once WE start using these techniques to promote wellness, they won’t have such an easy time getting and keeping lifelong customers.
If parents are not able to resist the temptation of convenient, cheap meals that have become a mainstay in their own diet for years what should we do? Let the fast food companies continue luring in our innocent children? Let kids get fatter and fatter? Or does something need to be done, even if it means laws and mandates. Something has to change the status quo. We don’t live in a society where parents have rotted out teeth anymore. If we had waited for toothless parents to start getting their children to brush their teeth and drink fluoridated water, we’d all still be waiting.
We need to break this cycle. Once we have a healthier new generation in the making, there won’t be any need for lawsuits and bans. People aren’t shooting themselves over having to wear helmets anymore. And I haven’t heard of any recent campaigns to go back to not having to wear seat belts. These things are forgotten and just a part of life now. These laws didn’t hurt anyone’s liberties yet they saved countless lives. And money.
EVERYONE needs to be held accountable for the obesity problem. That means parents, schools, Corporate America and the government. Two year old’s today are the adults of tomorrow. They need help, let’s take it anywhere we can get it.
