{"id":76144,"date":"2012-07-25T09:16:38","date_gmt":"2012-07-25T14:16:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/?p=76144"},"modified":"2012-07-25T09:10:02","modified_gmt":"2012-07-25T14:10:02","slug":"a-bad-mom-speaks-out-keep-cartoon-characters-on-the-screen-and-off-my-kids-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/07\/a-bad-mom-speaks-out-keep-cartoon-characters-on-the-screen-and-off-my-kids-food\/","title":{"rendered":"A “Bad Mom” Speaks Out: Keep Cartoon Characters on the Screen and Off My Kid’s Food"},"content":{"rendered":"

Did you know I\u2019m a bad mom? Yep, I am. I won\u2019t buy the yogurt tubes that look like light sabers from Star Wars. Oh, I also won\u2019t buy the macaroni boxes that have noodles shaped like Phineas and Ferb. And to top it off, I won\u2019t buy the apple slices with caramel dip that have Mickey Mouse on the package. My son doesn\u2019t even bother to ask because he knows I\u2019ll say no. So, clearly, I\u2019m a bad mom, and I\u2019m OK with that.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong, I\u2019m not against the cartoon characters, I\u2019m just against the food most of them are marketing. My child is left to have yogurt that doesn\u2019t contain high fructose corn syrup, macaroni and cheese that is made with real cheese and a whole grain pasta, and he knows that caramel is a special treat not a lunchbox staple<\/a><\/strong>. Again, if this makes me a bad mom, so be it. I actually hate that I can\u2019t buy the \u201cfun\u201d snacks for my son, but us bad moms have to stick to our principles.<\/p>\n

It comes as no surprise that a recent Yale study concluded that cartoon characters on food packages<\/a><\/strong> makes children believe the food inside actually tastes better. This study was published in the July issue of the Journal of Pediatrics<\/em>. The study documented how children were given the choice of graham crackers, gummy fruits, or carrots – once in a plain package and once in a package containing images of Scooby-Doo, Dora, or Shrek. Guess which foods the children said tasted better? Same food, in a cartoon wrapper was the clear winner. <\/p>\n

A similar study conducted by the Sesame Street Workshop showed how preschoolers were given the option of chocolate or broccoli. Most obviously chose the chocolate, however, when the broccoli was adorned with a picture of Elmo, 50 percent of the kids chose the vegetable.<\/p>\n

All the tests in the world are proven 100 times over if you just take a trip to the grocery store with a child. The \u201ccan I get this?!\u201d requests are pretty telling. My son\u2019s question is ever so slightly different as he says, \u201cMommy, is this healthy enough for me?\u201d Regardless of the exact phrasing, the request is typically for a food with a cool cartoon image on the front. This type of marketing works. According to Philly.com, the food industry spends $1.6 billion each year on marketing to children<\/a><\/strong>. Most parents are \u201cbetter\u201d than me and buy these items for their kids, too. Don\u2019t believe me? Go to an elementary school at lunch, it\u2019s a cartoon character reunion once those lunch boxes are opened.<\/p>\n

First lady Michelle Obama has addressed this issue with her Task Force on Childhood Obesity<\/a><\/strong>. The force recommended that those who licensed TV and movie characters use strong \u201cself-regulation\u201d policies. This recommendation has been in place under a different name for a few years now. Larger companies agreed to only use the characters to market healthy foods<\/a><\/strong>, but the definition of healthy is gray for many. Result? Really nothing has changed and, in fact, you\u2019ll find more characters out there than ever before.<\/p>\n

One bright spot is that Disney has agreed to not use its characters for kid foods<\/a><\/strong> unless the food meets a low calorie and fat guideline. It\u2019s a start, I guess.<\/p>\n

Doubtfully will those guidelines meet my \u201cbad mom\u201d standards as there\u2019s so much more to a food than calories and fat. Once more, I\u2019m OK with being the bad parent and honestly, I encourage others to tap into their bad side and make their poor kids suffer along with mine. Granted, he\u2019s almost 9, growing happily like a weed, and he loves broccoli, the kind without Elmo on it. Clearly suffering, I’m sure.<\/p>\n

Also Read:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Disney’s Ban on Junk Food Ads is a Game Changer<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Kids Don’t Need Exercise, They Need Fun, Active Play<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

French Kids Eat Everything<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

photo credit via lavinephoto.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Did you know I\u2019m a bad mom? Yep, I am. I won\u2019t buy the yogurt tubes that look like light sabers from Star Wars. Oh, I also won\u2019t buy the macaroni boxes that have noodles shaped like Phineas and Ferb. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1367,3695],"tags":[1094],"class_list":["post-76144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-childrens-health","category-diet-and-nutrition","tag-marketing"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76144"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76146,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76144\/revisions\/76146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}