Now here’s the problem with all this crap surrounding obesity in children. Everyone has it backwards. Marketers and the media are continually blamed for somehow forcing food down the throats of children. Here’s a little factoid. As powerful as some might think marketers and the media are, they don’t have arms attached to the bodies of children which mechanically force feed them the brands they manufacture and advertise. No. Kids put food in their mouths with their own arms.
Certainly, kids are greatly influenced by what they see on TV but, again, they have brains. They aren’t robots with mouths. Learning to eat is something that needs to be learned. Asking a marketer, whose sole purpose is to sell shit (and it is shit), to tell kids to stop buying shit just isn’t going to happen. Here’s a radical concept in the form of a question. Who is the one person that is most influential in a child’s life and who is charged with that child’s education and upbringing? Any guesses? Not sure? We’ll tell you. The child’s parent. Yes, parents. Parents are the primary person in their child’s lives and the ones who should be charged with educating them on proper eating habits. And yes, we know all kids don’t have parents and that there are many broken homes out there but the primary responsibility for a child’s eating habits is the parent.
Yes, marketers need to stop manufacturing sugar coated crap. Yes, some form of education for children and parents is needed. Yes, marketers should be questioned when they produce too much sugar coated crap. And yes, perhaps some legislation is needed. But, they shouldn’t be asked to do the job of the child’s parent. Parents need to kick their kids asses off the couch. Get them outside and away from too many mindless electronic games. Involve them in the preparation of meals. Educate them about what’s good and what isn’t when it comes to food and its ingredients.
Perhaps some heavy handedness on manufacturers, marketers and media is needed. Food made out of crap just shouldn’t be made at all. Food that’s deemed crap shouldn’t be advertised. Asking the government to go after food makers may, in fact be needed. But, food makers are out to make a profit and they will do what ever it takes to make one. The only thing that will stop the manufacture of crappy food is people ceasing to eat it. It’s simply supply and demand. Perhaps a better direction for the government to take is one of education. Work on the demand side. Not the supply side. Educate the public with more than a stupid food pyramid. Rather than spend money trying to get a for profit company to stop making the food that makes it its profit, come at it from the other side. Stop the demand for crappy food and crappy food will cease to be made.
Yes, this is an idealistic outlook and it’s just one opinion. Both sides of the problem need attention but marketers don’t force food down kid’s throats and parent’s have the best chance of properly educating children on proper eating habits.
