Alright, let's not kid ourselves...we ALL know fast food is not good for us, but still, people line up to drop their hard earned money on a "value meal." For instance, McDonald's sells approximately 4.2 million hamburgers a day. Every day. If an adult chooses to visit McDonald's, or any fast food restaurant, then that's their choice. They know the nutritional value (or lack thereof) of the food they're about to eat, and they voluntarily do so. Nobody forces them. But children are a different matter. The 2 young boys in the photo above, do not appear old enough to drive (I could be wrong. I once showed up at a blind date's house and when a lady answered the door, I told her I was there to take her daughter out. Turns out the lady who answered the door, WAS my date. D'uh!). Someone had to drive the boys to McDonald's. Someone had to place an order for the boys. Someone had to pay the cashier for the food they're eating. Someone made repeated efforts to feed the boys nutritionally inferior food...that someone was their parents.
As a parent, what are you feeding your children? Are their dietary choices based on what's easy and convenient for you? I understand it's easier to get your child to eat candy than broccoli, but, who's the parent?
Here's a clip form an interesting article I recently read:
This morning we reported a study on the staggering power of advertising. Children, ages 3 and 5, were presented with an assortment of identical foods, half in McDonald’s packaging, half in unmarked packaging. The kids were then asked which tasted better. An overwhelming majority said the foods labeled “McDonald's” tasted best.To drive this point home… When presented with absolutely identical French fries, 77% of these young kids said the ones with a McDonald's label tasted better. When presented with carrots – yes carrots – a majority of kids said they preferred the McDonald's wrapped veggies. These kids, too young to reason, have been convinced that anything stamped by a Golden Arch is superior. What can we conclude from this data? At the very least, we can say that by the age of 3, many of our children are already heavily influenced by marketing. At worst, we can say we are warping kids’ minds and creating an army of brainwashed, chicken-nugget popping zombies.
A friend of mine recenlt asked me how he could get his 6 year old son to eat healthier foods. After reading the article above, I instructed him to place his son's food (lean protein and vegetables) in a large McDonald's paper bag and give it to him once he got home from work. The idea was to make it appear as if he had stopped at Mcdonald's on his way home from work. It worked. His son ate ALL the food without a single peep.
So, for all you parents reading this, who still insist on feeding their children fast food...watch this video.
For another excellent video:
Click Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IGtDPG4UfI&feature=channel
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