I was riding in the car with a friend and her three-year-old this weekend. As we passed a McDonalds, her daughter began to hum a familiar jingle. She ended it with, "I'm lovin' it." Needless to say, I should not have been surprised. If you are the parent of a toddler, you know that kids are not immune to marketing. They soak it in like a sponge. Think of how many times you have caught yourself humming the slogan from a fast food restaurant -- one you may not even like but the tune is awfully catchy.
According to a study in Psychology and Marketing, kids as young as age three have already learned brand recognition and logos. Around age three, they start feeling pressure to have the right "stuff." Preschoolers begin forming definite opinions about the kind of food and toys they like best. For example, they know whether they like McDonalds versus Taco Bell or Disney versus My Pretty Pony. It's no wonder marketers are targeting kids earlier and earlier.
One layer of changing children's relationship to food is taking a close look at the marketing of it. A recent study by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) looked at meals that are heavily marketed towards kids. They analyzed menu items from five major fast food chains.
They deemed the Mighty Kids Meals as the worst (nutrient content). Notice that marketing is not just tiny tots anymore. Tweens (or preteens) have been an untapped market. The Mighty Kids Meal is a meal from McDonald's designed for preteens. These tweens are older than those who might eat a Happy Meal. The Mighty Kids Meals provides more food than what you would find in a Happy Meal.
Here are the five worst fast food kids meals (according to PCRM's study):
Worst
McDonald's Mighty Kids Meal: Double Cheeseburger, French fries, and chocolate milk.
840 calories, 37 grams of fat
2nd Worst
Wendy's Kids Meal: Chicken Sandwich, French fries and chocolate Frosty. 770 calories, 34 grams of fat.
3rd Worst
KFC Kids Meal: Popcorn chicken, potato wedges, string cheese and soda. 800 calories, 1,800 milligrams of sodium.
4th Worst
A&W Kids Meal: Cheeseburger, French fries and soda. 780 calories, 9 grams of saturated fat.
5th Worst
Burger King's BK Kids: Breakfast muffin sandwich meal. 95 milligrams of cholesterol (exceeds the Institute of Medicine's limit on sodium intake.)
Consider the potential impact of this meal and other unhealthy foods on a developing brain. Not to mention that food impacts mood. If your teen is going through a phase as it is, could the foods they eat make their emotional highs and lows just a little worse? It's definitely a challenge to feed your kids in a healthy and quick manner. Knowing the facts and what to avoid is important.
Use your child's tendency to learn and regurgitate slogans to your advantage. Teach mindful eating from day one. I saw a mom handing her preschool daughter a banana and singing the Chiquita banana song. Her daughter laughed, joined right in the song and happily ate the banana. Try your own social marketing campaign with your kids. Much better than leaving it up to the T.V. and marketers who have an agenda.
Susan Albers, Psy.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist, specializing in eating issues, weight loss, body image concerns, and mindfulness. She is author of 50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food, Eating Mindfully, Eat, Drink, and Be Mindful, and Mindful Eating 101. Visit Albers online at www.eatingmindfully.
David Katz, M.D.: Should Fast Food Restaurants Serve Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs With Meals?
Mark Hyman, MD: How to Eat Healthy for Less
Joel Fuhrman, M.D.: The Cure for the American Diet: Nutrient Density
Maggie Lamond Simone: 6 Going on 16
It all boils down to parenting, and the self-esteem of the parent.
Don't get me wrong, parents should definitely avoid giving their children these kinds of foods, but avoiding them completely is often impossible. If your child is invited to a friend's birthday party at macdonalds, what exactly are you supposed to do? Let him miss out on the party? Watch everyone eat while he doesn't? Give him a packed lunch to make him look and feel stupid next to everyone else?
So i guess its all about moderation. Avoid junk as much as possible, and try to cook with natural organic foods, but if you ban junk food completely from a kid's life, then it could easily backfire. I think the best thing is to pretend that healthy food is delicious. Like I love carrots (not cooked) and cucumber, I love them as much as I love chocolate, and I enjoy eating salads, and I think its cos my mother treated them as something tasty as opposed to something healthy that you have to eat.
I'm not promoting McDonalds food-type products.
But I have a major problem with the mis-focus of this article. The problem with McDonalds is not that the food-like-product is fatty, has salt, or dietary cholesterol. There are plenty of healthy foods that are high in all these things, and we need a good amount of all of them to be healthy.
The problem with McDonalds is that it's non-food, and mostly empty (high) calorie junk. Lots of sugar, lots of bleached this and that. Lots of artificial hormones, colors, flavors and preservatives.
We can all agree McDonald's is junk that ought to be avoided. The problem is when you misinform, and mis-direct folks as to why/how.
What are you blazing?
Stop telling us about "evil fats" and start doing something about your kids getting fat and diabetic.
As for these companies targeting kids, it is a horrible ploy to get your kid to beg and plead for their stuff. Here is the great thing about it, you are the parent which means you get to show your kids the right way to do things and you get to pick the meal. Allow them indulgences every once in a while but you dont have to give in all the time just so they can feel like all the other kids.
http://eatthis.menshealth.com/content/best-and-worst-kids-meals-2009?article=20&page=1
What is not said is that a lot of kids under 10 are being ordered 2000 calorie meals off the adult menu.
I watched a 200+ lb 12 year old polish off 5 dollar menu chicken sandwiches with globs of mayo before I finished my single fish sandwich with mustard, not mayo.
I cook at home, so does the nanny during the day.
The best meal is on Sunday evening, because I cook with them, and they like it.
Ok, I will. Cholesterol is *essential* when it comes to building little brains. "Too much" salt, sugar, or fat will not negatively impact your young child's neurological development. Too LITTLE fat certainly will. In fact, children under 5 and pregnant moms must be careful to never attempt a low fat or low cholesterol diet, for the sake of those developing brains. And for a healthy-weight child, one needn't worry about the occasional high calorie meal.
If you are not eating fast food in this country, you are either health conscious or rich.
One blessing: no matter how addicted you are to a horrible "food" like soda or McNuggets, once you stop eating it for a few months, you realize that it just didn't taste that good in the first place.
Fresh fruit is delicious. Anyone who doesn't allow themselves and their kids the pleasure of eating fresh fruit daily is crazy!
However, parents who have enough money to choose do "vote with their wallets" 3 times a day.
Thankfully, the trend is going more towards organic foods and prices for healthy food are starting to go down. The more people start to eat healthy again, the more affordable it will be!