2008 Woodie Awards
Blame for childhood obesity: Parents or advertising?
Head-to-Head
Issue date: 4/20/07 Section: Opinion
Originally published: 4/19/07 at 4:06 PM EST
Last update: 4/19/07 at 4:26 PM EST
Even best parents can not compete with advertising
By Todd Costello
Clowns, bears, kangaroos, cheetahs and SpongeBob.
What do these all have in common?
Well, if you walk down the snack-food isle in your local supermarket, all these fun and visually-enticing cartoons are on the boxes of the unhealthiest food in the store.
I blame parents for a lot of the problems in today's society when it comes to children. This is until I went to Wal-Mart on a weekend to get some groceries. After scanning the isles and getting the food that fits into a college student's budget, I have to approach the dreaded checkout lines.
I rolled my cart behind a stunningly-dressed local in her Sunday's best flannel and spandex.
There was no kid by her side and her carriage didn't have too many items in it.
I decided to deal with the eye-sore in order to get my items scanned quickly.
Everything was going accordingly.
I stood there and read about how Brittany Spears is doing in rehab and all that other great news found near a checkout counter.
Yup, this was going to be a successful and painless trip to Wal-Mart after all.
Until…
"MOMMM, I WANT THIS PEZ DISPENSERRRRRR!"
To my surprise, she had a demon-child with her that was scanning the nearby candy stands.
The Pez dispenser that he was set on getting was an attractive one indeed.
It was a Dog the Bounty Hunter dispenser.
I stood there and watched this kid scream his brains out over a Dog the Bounty Hunter Pez dispenser.
The mom struggled to keep that snot-nosed menace quiet, but her attempts were useless.
Just as I was about to wind up and drop-kick this kid, the mom finally gave in and threw the candy to the front of her groceries.
All those times I stood up for Joe Camel because I didn't think children really took advertisements to heart - wrong.
You won't hear me admit I was wrong a lot, but here it is.
Shame on me for doubting the power of corporate advertising.
Yes, parents do hold the responsibility for controlling what their children eat.
But, with funny commercials and cartoon-crazed market, the parents have their work cut out for them.
Think of a kid looking at his mom who's telling him "no" he can't have SpongeBob fruit snacks.
As his mother speaks, all he hears is…
"Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS."
Even if they control what their children eat at home, they'll surely get their fix at a friend's house or at school.
It truly is a war, and the parents are losing big time.
Advertising that is aimed toward children is brainwashing at its best.
Of course kids believe everything they see on television - everything is geared to appeal to them.
If they don't like what they see, they just change the channel until they are pleased.
How can parents compete?
Until PBS becomes a major media conglomerate driven by profit, don't expect too many talking carrots or apples on TV any time soon.
But, as long as American kids stay addicted to junk food and fast food, parents will always be useless.
Children will always be crying to take a McBrake.
OR
Overweight children can start to thank mom, dad
By Jimmy O'Neill
Ah, obesity.
It's one of the many despicable words that carry the "ob-" prefix - right alongside oboe, the undisputed lamest musical instrument - and obesity is about as cool as it sounds.
It's an ever-growing problem (pun intended), and many American parents are actually supporting it.
There you have it, those folks that birthed you and keep your cupboard stocked with an unlimited supply of Dunkaroos and Yodels are doing their best to make the country fatter.
It's a simple concept, really.
If parents weren't buying giant supplies of junk food for their morbidly-robust children, we wouldn't have a problem. We'd be living in a country full of Timmy Twiggies and Skinny Minnies.
Most children have almost no disposable income, so their food budget and dietary guidelines are provided in full by mom and pops.
As a gesture of parental love, many legal guardians choose to spoil their fudge-faced offspring by buying them fatty, sugar-loaded treats.
Sure, the kids are happy in the meantime, but they won't be entering the Boston Marathon anytime soon.
If the parents didn't buy garbage food, their kids wouldn't have the means to consume it.
Jelly donuts and cinnamon rolls, delicious as they are, could easily be replaced at the breakfast table by bananas and granola bars.
Another good idea would be to take little Petey Porker to Subway instead of Mickey D's.
It's a given that TV features a non-stop marathon of ads for crappy food that's marketed to the children.
It's always going to be this way as long as there is money flowing to the networks.
However, part of the parenting process includes monitoring your kids' television watching.
Isn't it?
Maybe if they pried the PlayStation paddle out of their offspring's fat little hands for a minute and took them outside, it would do some good.
American parents could introduce their kids to a healthier lifestyle.
While they're at it, it might not be a bad idea for the parents to get some exercise themselves.
Children are pretty impressionable, so a great way to improve this problem would be to lead by example.
If my observations are correct, overweight parents tend to raise overweight children.
The same holds true for healthy parents.
Do you really think Lance Armstrong's kids are glued to a Lazy Boy, chowing down on honey buns?
Not a chance!
They're on top of a mountain somewhere, doing inverted one-handed pushups.
As if the situation wasn't already a mess, it looks like the rest of the world is starting to get caught up in this American fat vacuum.
Of all places, Japan is starting to incorporate American delicacies into their diets.
Bad idea, Japan.
In a country where the only fat people used to be sumo wrestlers, there has suddenly been a huge spike in the number of heart attacks.
I never thought I'd live to hear about Japanese businessmen and physically supreme ninja masters dying from choking on chili cheese dogs.
But, it looks like everybody's going big in '07.
America got fat, and now the rest of the world is getting in on the fun.
Way to go, mom and dad.
Way to go.
By Todd Costello
Clowns, bears, kangaroos, cheetahs and SpongeBob.
What do these all have in common?
Well, if you walk down the snack-food isle in your local supermarket, all these fun and visually-enticing cartoons are on the boxes of the unhealthiest food in the store.
I blame parents for a lot of the problems in today's society when it comes to children. This is until I went to Wal-Mart on a weekend to get some groceries. After scanning the isles and getting the food that fits into a college student's budget, I have to approach the dreaded checkout lines.
I rolled my cart behind a stunningly-dressed local in her Sunday's best flannel and spandex.
There was no kid by her side and her carriage didn't have too many items in it.
I decided to deal with the eye-sore in order to get my items scanned quickly.
Everything was going accordingly.
I stood there and read about how Brittany Spears is doing in rehab and all that other great news found near a checkout counter.
Yup, this was going to be a successful and painless trip to Wal-Mart after all.
Until…
"MOMMM, I WANT THIS PEZ DISPENSERRRRRR!"
To my surprise, she had a demon-child with her that was scanning the nearby candy stands.
The Pez dispenser that he was set on getting was an attractive one indeed.
It was a Dog the Bounty Hunter dispenser.
I stood there and watched this kid scream his brains out over a Dog the Bounty Hunter Pez dispenser.
The mom struggled to keep that snot-nosed menace quiet, but her attempts were useless.
Just as I was about to wind up and drop-kick this kid, the mom finally gave in and threw the candy to the front of her groceries.
All those times I stood up for Joe Camel because I didn't think children really took advertisements to heart - wrong.
You won't hear me admit I was wrong a lot, but here it is.
Shame on me for doubting the power of corporate advertising.
Yes, parents do hold the responsibility for controlling what their children eat.
But, with funny commercials and cartoon-crazed market, the parents have their work cut out for them.
Think of a kid looking at his mom who's telling him "no" he can't have SpongeBob fruit snacks.
As his mother speaks, all he hears is…
"Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS."
Even if they control what their children eat at home, they'll surely get their fix at a friend's house or at school.
It truly is a war, and the parents are losing big time.
Advertising that is aimed toward children is brainwashing at its best.
Of course kids believe everything they see on television - everything is geared to appeal to them.
If they don't like what they see, they just change the channel until they are pleased.
How can parents compete?
Until PBS becomes a major media conglomerate driven by profit, don't expect too many talking carrots or apples on TV any time soon.
But, as long as American kids stay addicted to junk food and fast food, parents will always be useless.
Children will always be crying to take a McBrake.
OR
Overweight children can start to thank mom, dad
By Jimmy O'Neill
Ah, obesity.
It's one of the many despicable words that carry the "ob-" prefix - right alongside oboe, the undisputed lamest musical instrument - and obesity is about as cool as it sounds.
It's an ever-growing problem (pun intended), and many American parents are actually supporting it.
There you have it, those folks that birthed you and keep your cupboard stocked with an unlimited supply of Dunkaroos and Yodels are doing their best to make the country fatter.
It's a simple concept, really.
If parents weren't buying giant supplies of junk food for their morbidly-robust children, we wouldn't have a problem. We'd be living in a country full of Timmy Twiggies and Skinny Minnies.
Most children have almost no disposable income, so their food budget and dietary guidelines are provided in full by mom and pops.
As a gesture of parental love, many legal guardians choose to spoil their fudge-faced offspring by buying them fatty, sugar-loaded treats.
Sure, the kids are happy in the meantime, but they won't be entering the Boston Marathon anytime soon.
If the parents didn't buy garbage food, their kids wouldn't have the means to consume it.
Jelly donuts and cinnamon rolls, delicious as they are, could easily be replaced at the breakfast table by bananas and granola bars.
Another good idea would be to take little Petey Porker to Subway instead of Mickey D's.
It's a given that TV features a non-stop marathon of ads for crappy food that's marketed to the children.
It's always going to be this way as long as there is money flowing to the networks.
However, part of the parenting process includes monitoring your kids' television watching.
Isn't it?
Maybe if they pried the PlayStation paddle out of their offspring's fat little hands for a minute and took them outside, it would do some good.
American parents could introduce their kids to a healthier lifestyle.
While they're at it, it might not be a bad idea for the parents to get some exercise themselves.
Children are pretty impressionable, so a great way to improve this problem would be to lead by example.
If my observations are correct, overweight parents tend to raise overweight children.
The same holds true for healthy parents.
Do you really think Lance Armstrong's kids are glued to a Lazy Boy, chowing down on honey buns?
Not a chance!
They're on top of a mountain somewhere, doing inverted one-handed pushups.
As if the situation wasn't already a mess, it looks like the rest of the world is starting to get caught up in this American fat vacuum.
Of all places, Japan is starting to incorporate American delicacies into their diets.
Bad idea, Japan.
In a country where the only fat people used to be sumo wrestlers, there has suddenly been a huge spike in the number of heart attacks.
I never thought I'd live to hear about Japanese businessmen and physically supreme ninja masters dying from choking on chili cheese dogs.
But, it looks like everybody's going big in '07.
America got fat, and now the rest of the world is getting in on the fun.
Way to go, mom and dad.
Way to go.
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