According to the article below, the foods that food and nutrition professionals want children to eat more of, such as fruits and veggies are not eaten in health promoting quantities. However, professionals are not our primary caregivers. That role belongs to parents, mom and dad. They are the ones who provide for and feed the family.
So, what does it take to feed the family in health promoting ways? For one, we can bring back mother wit. Parents themselves have to learn and care to eat in healthy ways, that is how it is passed on. An example is a powerful influence. Marketers, e.g. tv commercials have their interests in mind…to sell a a product. To counter the influence of television commercials that urge eating poor quality food, ne solution, turn off the television. On Saturday mornings, cook breakfast and eat together as a family. It can help.
Children Fed Diet of Poor Nutrition on Saturday Morning Television
Nine out of ten food advertisements shown during Saturday morning children’s television programming are for foods of poor nutritional quality, according to researchers at the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the University of Minnesota.
During a sample of 27.5 hours of shows aimed at pre-school and elementary school-aged children, 91 percent of food ads were for foods or beverages high in fat, sodium or added sugars or were low in nutrients, according to the study. Forty-nine percent of the 4.08 hours of advertisements shown were for food (281 food ads out of 571 total). The sample, taken from a 2005 review by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, included major broadcast and cable networks that had Saturday morning programming.
The most commonly advertised food categories were:
ready-to-eat breakfast cereals and cereal bars (27 percent of all ads)
restaurants (19 percent)
and snack foods (18 percent).
Of the 281 food ads, 59 percent were for products that exceeded criteria for added sugars, according to the study. About one in five foods advertised exceeded other guidelines, including total fat, saturated plus trans fat and sodium. The majority of advertised foods (84 percent) met the criteria for vitamins and minerals, often as a result of fortification. None of the 27 beverage ads met the study’s nutrition standards.
The researchers conclude: “The findings indicate that the foods that food and nutrition professionals encourage children to eat more of, such as fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products and whole grains, are seldom encouraged in advertisements shown during children’s Saturday morning television programming. Instead, most advertisements promote…foods high in fat, sugars or sodium, or low in nutrients.”
April 2008, Journal of the American Dietetic Association
