Television and Junk Advertising

Should you let your children watch television channels that have "junk" advertising?

Many parents say, "no," but I say, "yes."

Yes, I know that children can't tell the difference between advertising and program content. And yes I know that children believe everything they see on television. And yes I know that food manufacturers are after our children. 

• A recent content analysis of the top 40 food and beverage brand websites found that 63% of the websites contain gaming in which a product is featured. 
• More than half used cartoon characters or had websites specifically designed for children.

The answer isn't to avoid these channels (unless you don't like the programming content). The answer is to educate your children. Even the young ones.

Tell your children that food manufacturers often lie to children. 

Then, tell your kids that if they hear anything about a particular food they should come check with you to see if it is true.

Say these things often. It filters what your children absorb and shapes what they believe. 

Be proactive: Children believe their parents.

Does this mean I'm letting food manufacturers off the hook?

Not at all. They're after our kids and that is unacceptable.  

Every day on average in the United States, children and teenagers see 12 to 14 food ads on television. And they're not advertising broccoli. (Although there is that one ad for Cuties mandarins, which I love.) 

Read this great New York Times piece How Advertising Targets Our Children. (Thanks Casey for sending me the link.)

Ads most likely to be marketed towards kids are fast foods, sugared cereals, sugary drinks and candy.

To me this makes the problem easier for parents to confront. After all, there's no ambiguity here: these foods are trash and everyone knows it. It's time your kids do too. Read A Spoonful of Sugar?

It's harder to teach children that chicken nuggets are trash, but they are. Read Are Chicken Nuggets Really Chicken? and The 10 Most "Dangerous" Foods.

Having said this, I recognize that emphasizing the need for kids to be educated consumers plays into the hands of food manufacturer.

"We don't have to stop advertising; you have to know what you're buying." So let's work on a shared approach. Work to stop this kind of advertising.

But I hate the way this is discussed, as if parents are (and should be) passive. Educating kids is a caring and reasonable response to a terrible problem.

~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~

Source: Henry, H. K. M. and D. L. G. Borzekowski. 2011. “The Nag Factor: a Mixed-Methodology Study in the Us of Young Children's Requests for Advertised Products.” Journal of Children and Media 5(3): 298-317.

The Nag Factor

Research shows that children influence purchases like cars, vacations and electronics. And, of course, children influence food purchases.

• Children influence food purchases proactively: One study shows kids put approximately 6 items in the cart.
• Children influence food purchases by nagging: One study shows that some kids ask more than 50 times for particular products.

50 times? That's one helluva parental headache!

Nagging comes in many guises, but it's always a pain in the butt.

Kids nag by:

• Repeatedly asking for items, whining, stomping feet, making fists, grunting.
• Putting items in the shopping cart even when told, "no."
• Having an all-out tantrum.
• Being manipulative, i.e. by professing love or hate for the mother, and by saying other children have the item.

You don't have to take it. You can teach your way out of this problem. (After all, the chances are that you, inadvertently, taught your way into this problem.)

There are two ways to eliminate nagging:

• Say "no" and mean it.
• Say "yes." (After all, if you're going to say "yes" eventually you might as well say "yes" from the get-go and save yourself the fight.)

Don't say no unless you mean it.

"No. No. No. Yes" actually encourages your kids to nag. They know that wearing you down is a strategy that works. They  just don't know when it will work.

 

I can hear the protests now: "But my child continues to ask... even after I've said, 'no!'" 

That's also a strategy that kids learn. After you have said "no" once or twice—the second "no" is kind of like a short grace period— refuse to engage in the conversation (and I use the term conversation lightly).

• "You've already asked and I've already answered. Asking again won't change anything."
• "Even if I wanted to change my mind, now I can't. I don't want you to learn that nagging works." (I LOVE this reply because it teaches the lesson explicitly.)

Then, ignore, distract, or use a time out. BUT, and this is REALLY IMPORTANT, don't ignore the intial request.

• If you ignore the intial request you will promote nagging.
• And don't ignore your child without warning: "I've answered you and now I'm going to ignore your requests."

Clarify the shopping rules before you get into the store.

Here are some ideas:

• You may select one item to purchase that is not on my list.
• You may (or may not) eat that item (or a piece of that item) while we are shopping.
• If you nag me for a second item you will not get the first item.

And, afterwards, of course, "Thank you for behaving so well at the grocery store today."

~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~

Source: Henry, H. K. M. and D. L. G. Borzekowski. 2011. “The Nag Factor: a Mixed-Methodology Study in the Us of Young Children's Requests for Advertised Products.” Journal of Children and Media 5(3): 298-317.

Coping With Party Favor Candy for Kids

Party favors: You either love them or you hate them. 

Most mothers I know hate them.  They’re usually filled with clutter and crap, otherwise known as toys and candy.

True, a lot of parents get creative and dole out coloring books, paint sets or Lego kits.  And some parents go overboard: Can you say American Girl Dolls? Read this New York Times article to see how some parents indulge their decadent side, but be prepared to be appalled. 

Still, most goody bags boil down to the basics—toys and candy.

You might be surprised to hear this, but it's this kind of party favor bag—the kind filled with candy— which can really do you a favor.  Use them to teach your kids to manage candy.  It's a skill they'll need for a lifetime of healthy eating.

The key to coping with the goods in the goody bag is to break that baby apart. Obliterate it. Destroy its identity. Send it to the moon.

As long as the party bag remains intact, your kids believe they’re entitled to eat the candy contents entirely, and on the day of delivery.  No matter the amount, your kids want to eat the whole kit and caboodle.

• If there are 6 pieces of candy in the bag, kids think they should eat all 6.
• If there are 8 pieces in the bag, they'll want all 8.
• And if there are 28 pieces...you get my point.

Boy, are you in for a battle.  Or a senseless afternoon of sensory overload.

• Do you fight the fight, engaging in a daily debate over how many delights you should dole out? 
• Or, do you let your kids consume all the crap as quickly as possible so you don’t have to deal with the dope forever?

The answer: Neither. You don't have to be at the mercy of the mother who foised the favor.

Neutralize the power of the party favor. Disassemble the bag the second you get home.

I mean it. Take that sucker apart. Not by dumping the candy into the trash, but by emptying the candy into the candy drawer you keep at home. 

You do keep a candy drawer at home, don’t you? If not, please consider it.  The candy drawer will: 

• Empower your kids to regulate their own candy consumption.
• Take the power of the lollypop down a peg or two.

I’m not suggesting a free-for-all.  You've got to give your kids some guidelines. Read Lollypops Whenever They Want? 

If you let the candy sit around the house in the bag it came home in it will constantly call your kid’s name.

Eat me. Eat me. Eat me.

Most parents solve this problem by getting the goods out of the house as soon as they can.  This solution perpetuates the problem.  Your kids never learn how to cope with candy, and so the next party favor bag is just as big of a bomb.

If, instead, you break up the contents, the candy collection will no longer seem like a set. Your kids will no longer be able to identify what came into the house when. They'll no longer feel entitled to eat it all.  

AND THEN... the regular rules for candy consumption will take over: One per day? Only after lunch?

The party loses its punch.  Your house rules, well, rule.

You can’t teach children to manage candy by managing it for them.

Keeping a stash of candy in the house might terrify you.  You probably worry that if you keep a candy drawer in your home your kids will clamor – constantly – for candy.  In reality, though, it actually works the other way around.  Candy drawers neutralize the power of candy.  

Think of this as simple economics: scarcity drives prices up; surplus drives them down. You want to drive the price of candy down, way down.

Read The How-to-Control-Your Kids’-Candy-Consumption Con and Candy with Breakfast?.

~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~