We are always hearing about the concern about marketing to our kids.  How much exposure of TV ads and other media are our kids seeing and how is that influencing their food choices, food associations and ideas about nutrition?

We know they are being influenced for sure!  If not, these high fat, high sugar companies would not be spending the millions and millions of dollars on advertising to them.  But what about parents?  I don’t have figures (but if I can find it, we all might be shocked!).  How much money is being spent to influence the parent to promote sugary foods and fatty foods to their kids?  Have you thought about that?

I really hadn’t thought about this until I saw a commercial (company shall rename nameless, tsk, tsk) that was actually geared towards parents.  It showed a mom giving her kids treats (sugary ones!) as a reward and then the narrator said something like “be a good mom” or something like that but it was clearly making an inference to being a good mom and giving her child treats and child contentment.

So parents, we have to be on the alert.  It is easy after a long day to go a little passive and just let those messages begin to sink into our minds without question.   They get us by showing how cooperative our kids can be and how much easier it is.   Don’t be fooled.  We are at a war to save our children from a future of illness from poor nutrition.  That may sound over dramatic but read the latest trends in childhood obesity, heart disease in children, diabetes in children, increasing emotional disorders in children, … it goes on and on.

Instead, let those ads serve as a reminder that our kids are worth every effort we make to FIGHT FUN with FUN.  Be creative and make eating healthier a great experience for your child.  A fun active family day is a much better reward than a sugary treat.  You are the most powerful marketing weapon against the high sugar, high fat companies.  (And BTW, I am not an extremist, sugary treats and fatty foods are okay every once in awhile, but let’s not make them out to the best thing and something kids really look forward to)

Healthy foods can be the most fun….if we make them fun!

A new study, just released, indicates that children do like fruits and vegetables!  This is based on a survey of 100 children in several California regions. (to read the study, click here)

I appreciate and welcome all positive information to help us parents change our own mindset that “kids just don’t like fruits and vegetables”  But, hey, I “feel Ya”!  Your probably thinking if my kids liked fruits and vegetables , I would happily serve them.  We don’t need a study to tell us if our kids will or will not eat healthier foods.  We already know.

But did you know that you may be adding to their little “attitudes about healthy and not so healthy foods.  They listen and hear a great deal more than we realize.  You may not have realized that when you were walking in the grocery store, and passed over this vegetable or that vegetable that you may have been sending them a message “don’t want to eat that”or maybe you flat out told your child, “hey if you be good, you can have cookies when you come home!” sending them the message “cookies are fun and good, be good and feel good with a cookie”

My point is that we parents are a walking bulletin board, a flashing neon sign, a attention grabbing advertisement about food to our children.  We do have the power to make healthy foods seem more delicious just by our own interaction with them.  Yes, those little ears are alert and forming associations about different foods everyday just by watching you.   No pressure.    But the first step to a healthier child may be evaluating our own lifestyle choices, attitudes and associations that we have with food.    Think about it.

Kudos to Desperate Housewives for introducing a storyline about the struggles of having an overweight child.

It really showed in one episode something that parents across America, and globally are facing, childhood obesity.

Surprising, they hit a lot of key challenges face:

• A parent’s denial that their child is overweight is not uncommon.
• How to handle the situation sensitively so that the child does not develop body image issues.
• Conflicts between parents on how to address the issue
• The resistance to discuss health with their child
• attempts to trick the child into exercising and the child’s rebellion
• shopping for the overweight child
• parent’s feelings of concern and doubt
• hearing other parents’ comments about their child
• a parents need to protect their child

Lots of real life struggles.  But one thing that I really loved, was how the father, Carlos, tried to get his child to eat vegetables by drowning it with fattening cheese sauce.  Essentially, taking away all the health benefits.  We laugh, but….

Changing a child’s diet first starts with family changes.  The focus should not be on the child, but on the family.  We need to emphasize the importance of healthy living not weight and clothing size.  And honest discussion as a family to agree and set goals for healthy STEP changes.  Not dramatic life changes that will make it hard to succeed.  But step changes, one step at a time.

We have healthy nutrition goal worksheets (we call them family agreements) and tracking sheets to help you work on one healthy change at a time.

Keep it simple, be patient and stay positive.  If this becomes a negative experience for your child then they will begin to associate “healthy” with “NO fun”.  And let’s not forget, the kids are hearing all about how much fun it is to eat the high sugary, fatty foods.  We have to fight fire with fire or maybe I should say FUN with FUN.

We have to make nutrition and exercise fun to learn about.  That starts with a positive attitude and family creativity.

I was reading more about the Marketing to kids report (pdf downloadable) that the Federal Trade Commission released earlier this week.  In my previous blog, I mentioned the dollars spent on advertising but what about the actual advertising?

Here is what the report found:

• the high sugar and high fat food companies are advertising on popular kids websites like Disney.com
• high sugar cereals amongst other food companies have created websites just for kids
• kids play on this website for an average of 23 minutes a month
• kids watch webisodes of characters promoting their high sugar or high fat foods
• display ads generated 2 BILLION impressions on kids websites
• display ads generated 9 BILLION impressions on teens websites

This is 2006 data so just imagine how these numbers have grown.

So what does this mean to us parents.  How do we compete with that.  Well, first we have to accept the fact that internet and computer time is going to be a part of a child’s life.  It’s today and tomorrow’s technology.  This is the generation of digitalization.

I think as the old saying goes,  “If you can’t beat um, you gotta join them”  We have to step into their world and websites and healthy food companies need to work together to make nutrition fun.

This is the whole reason I started my website that is devoted to making nutrition fun for kids.  We have to provide kids with other messages.  We have to provide you parents with alternate quality sites that you can allow your child to play on.

Just imagine if in stead of spending 23 minutes playing a game that messages “look for me the sugary character, it’s fun and eating me is fun…”  What if those 23 minutes was spent playing games that had characters that like to eat a balanced meal, games that promoted the importance and fun of eating vegetables and fruits?  Hmm, what if we gave the children a fun, new message about healthy eating.  Would it make a dfference.

Kids need to start hearing positive messaging about nutrition from different sources.  We can work together to promote healthy eating and activity.  Here is another good article that talks about this advertising to kids.

A new report just out from the Federal Trade Commission reports big dollars spent on advertising to kids. Food companies spent about 1.6 billion, or yeah, billion dollars marketing mostly high fat and high sugar foods to kids. This includes marketing products like:

• soda
• fast food
• cereal

The biggest dollar spend was the carbonated beverage advertising that topped $492 million dollars.

How does that compare to the Milk dollars? According to this report, milk advertising was $67 million.

It’s hard to compete with the big bucks going to advertising to kids. But there is something we can do. We are passive here as parents and the biggest influencer on our kids lives. But how do we combat all those fun cartoons telling our kids that it’s fun and cool to eat these high sugar cereals or the fast food burger that has more calories than a normal breakfast and lunch (put together)!

We have to find our own ways to make the healthier foods seem more fun. Ever make a happy face with the veggies at dinner? How about using some of the colorful vegetables and fruits to create little characters on their plates. Get them playing the Chef Solus and the Food Pyramid Adventure where they will see characters learning about nutrition in a fun game. We have to use laughter, creativity and games to “market” healthy foods to kids.

I am going to put together a list of fun ideas that you can use during your day to help make nutrition more fun. That is the first step, begin to associate fun with nutrition!

A poll was conducted in Australia indicating that the majority of parents want junk food ads regulated.

According to this article, in Australia, a consumer group took a poll of 320 parents and found that 8 out of 10 parents wanted some kind of regulation on junk food ads targeted to children. In the survey, 8 out of 10 parents also stated that right after their kids saw a “junk food” commercial, they “pestered” their parents to buy that food for them.

Well the Advertisers did not agree with the survey and felt that it was too small of a sample size to make any conclusions.

So I ask you parents, how do you feel?

What is your experience?

If the advertisers saw the opposite effect, in other words, kids see commercial, pester their parents, and that ensures an emphatical “NO”. I wonder if they would change their marketing strategies.

I guess my point is - Isn’t it up to us parents in the end? Don’t get me wrong, the advertisers are certainly making it harder on parents. But… I mean, doesn’t the buck stop with us?”