Are We Giving Children Mixed Messages about Food Awareness?
Psychologists and other health communicators can do a better job of clarifying the messages they convey about children’s eating, said psychologist Marlene Schwartz, PhD.
“Don’t make food an issue.” That advice would work, said Schwartz, if children’s lives weren’t saturated with marketing for high-sugar, high-fat foods. “Feeding your child is part of your job as a parent,” said Schwartz. “If you don’t intentionally protect a child and create an environment that facilitates the behaviors you want to see … you’re going to have a problem.”
“There are no good or bad foods” and “Everything in moderation.” These slogans are a favorite of the food industry, which should give psychologists pause in using them, she said. “Some categories of food deserve criticism,” she noted. Moreover, experts are often unclear on the definition of “moderation.”
Read more about Schwartz’s work at the “Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity blog”
Australian Fast Food Companies new marketing to children …
Australian Fast Food Companies have agreed to new marketing to children guidelines aimed at acting responsibly with the current obesity rate. … 30 minutes latter leg fell asleep, fell over vacuum cleaner, Your children, it’s not about giving phones, games, ipods or other stuff but the one thing you can’t buy: your time, the most precious gift, Australian Miss Universe finalist caused furore by sending out the wrong message about the image of healthy body types …
Naked Food Cafe: Day 82: The Elephant in the Room, Part 2
The mother of the child in question was quite small, the mother giving her advice was quite large. The mother of the normal weight child was insistent that her children, all fairly small, were not overweight because of her careful attention to their diet. …. The media is so filled with mixed messages it’s hard for an adult to figure out, much less a child. Junk food commercials everywhere, and ads saying you must be thin to be accepted everywhere. It’s just craziness. …
Deirdre Imus: There is No Such Thing as Junk Food…There’s Just …
Instead of setting high standards and leading by example, our schools have become junk food “enablers” and have contributed in the creation of a “Junk Generation.” Talk about sending a mixed message…. teaching children about eating …. a consumer advocacy group that has been urging Congress to set new nutritional standards, issued a School Foods Report Card giving most states school systems a “failing grade” when it came to controlling junk food sold to students. …
Let us know what your thinking?
Dawnm Pugh Expert Therapist
{ 1 trackback }
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Isn’t it sad that in creating seemingly increased choices for our children, we end up leaving them with no choice? This occurs in all aspects of children’s lives today – in school, recreational time and in what and how they should eat. In providing all these options with associated information, children lose their capacity to ‘look inside’ and ask themselves what they want. Babies know when they have had enough to eat, yet increasingly young children lose the capacity to know their own appetites. Parents are equally confused as they adhere to so-called professionals advice on how to feed their children, forgetting the basics of nutrition and healthy appetite responses. Children cannot learn to have a healthy relationship with food when their parents (predominantly their mothers research tells us) are uncomfortable about their ability to eat well and control their weight. Let’s stop the insanity and empower ourselves and our children to ‘know themselves’.
Clare Mann
http://www.the sydneypsychologist.com
Hi Clare,
Thank you for a very insightful and valid opinion.
We agree that children need to be empowered with self awareness and often some parents can feel threatened by this.
Thanks again.
Regards
Dawn
I totally agree with clare. This topic is very difficult and there isn’t an answer to all of those questions.
Maik
Maik´s last blog ..Hypnosis Stories
Hi Maik,
Thanks for the comment and for taking the time to read this article.
Bye for now
Dawn Pugh