Disappearing Act For The Better
The Kellogg Company® has agreed to phase out its advertising of foods containing more than 200 calories, 2 grams of saturated fat, and 12 grams of sugar to children under 12 years of age. Cereal ads such as Froot Loops™ during Saturday morning cartoons.
This coming 6 months after the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, and two parents threatened the company and Viacom, which owns Nickelodeon, with legal action. There will be some commercials that stay on the air and the ads still are broadcast to children though. (Source: Taste for Life)
Not only will Frosted Flakes commercials remain on children’s programming, but this cereal and other “acceptable” processed foods contain as much as two and half teaspoons of sugar per serving. Since TV viewing is as important a factor in overweight issues among children as a family history. Parents need to be the main ones that inhibit healthy eating among children.
Keep this in mind when choosing healthy foods: Anything containing mineral oils and high sugars such as, high fructose corn syrup shouldn’t be going into your childs mouth. They maybe cheap and kids like them, but mineral oil is also used in beauty products and is easy to manufacter. Would you let your child sit and eat lotion or baby oil? Then don’t feed them products with mineral oil in them such as most of the character fruit snacks that are on the market.
Parents need to monitor TV screen time and offer kids healthy sweets instead. 100% fruit juice snacks need to be purchased in a health food section of your grocery store or better yet a health food store. But, do you homework, if your child wants you to buy something, read labels, if it sounds unhealthy or you can’t pronounce it DON’T BUY IT! And teach your child what is good for them and what isn’t. Those life lessons last a forever.
Happy Eating!
August 24th, 2007 at 10:01 am
The question is what ingredient or chemical will replace these items? Food is like anything else, if you take out one thing it must be replaced with something else. If you take out sugars you inject fat, etc. This is a good idea, but it will be interesting to see if the solution does more harm than good.
August 24th, 2007 at 4:19 pm
I don’t think they are going to change the ingredients, just the advertising on some of the companies brands will come off the air. They will still be seen on the shelves of the grocery store the same as they have always been, just they won’t be aired to the public during the times that children watch television and some not at all.
The thing about that is, that’s great, because healthy eating is hard one to convey to children, especially at such a young age, but do grocery stores realize that the way that cereal and anything that has bright colors or flashy logos on it are at childrens eye level to push sales? I think in order to help children with healthier eating habits, grocery stores attitudes should change first.