That sounds like a good thing, doesn’t it?\u00a0 And maybe it is… but I have some real mixed feelings about it, nonetheless.\u00a0 According to Nation’s Restaurant News…<\/p>\n
SAN JOSE,\u00a0Calif. <\/strong>(March\u00a0 26, 2010) <\/strong>The Santa Clara County board of supervisors will begin to research the feasibility of creating a law aimed at battling childhood obesity by limiting the use of toys, digital games and other incentives in the marketing of restaurant meals to kids.<\/p>\n
Supervisors voted 4-0 this week, with one board member absent, to grant its fourth district representative Ken Yeager\u2019s request to have by April 27 pending language for a measure to prohibit the use of toys to market kids meals that do not meet certain, but not yet specified, nutritional standards.<\/p>\n
…Yeager said that in 2006, the Federal Trade Commission estimated that restaurants sold 1.2 billion meals accompanied by toys to children under 12. He further noted that while there are currently no nutritional standards for meals marketed to children, a 2008 study by the Center for Science in the Public Interest found that 10 out of 12 meals exceeding the recommended caloric limits for children came with toys.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This reminds me of the action taken against “Joe Camel” – a controversial cartoon character used in ads for Camel cigarettes that targeted children and adolescents.\u00a0 But there’s a critical distinction, I think.\u00a0 Here’s the money quote:<\/p>\n
\n\u201cIt\u2019s hard to compete against the barrage of games and gimmicks,\u201d Yeager said. \u201cWhile parents are trying to teach their kids proper eating habits, corporations are marketing unhealthy food directly to children using incentives like toys or free digital media.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\nThe kids Joe Camel appealed to most likely started smoking on the sly – they bummed ciggies off their friends, or stole them from parents and relatives.\u00a0 Fast food is a different story.\u00a0 In truth, most\u00a0“kids’ meals” with toys are are aimed at children under 10. Kids in this age range\u00a0typically\u00a0visit fast food restaurants with their parents\u00a0<\/strong>(or other “responsible” adults).\u00a0Thus, while it’s undeniably true that these marketing gimmicks are aimed at kids, the effort would be useless if it wasn’t enabled by the\u00a0same people who are\u00a0allegedly\u00a0“trying to teach their kids proper eating habits.”<\/p>\n
My kids are 17 and 20 now, but I recall their childhoods quite well.\u00a0 Like most kids, they were attracted by the play areas and toys offered by some of the major fast food chains.\u00a0 And y’know what? Most of the time (barring moves or vacations), I simply said “no.”<\/p>\n
That was that, really.\u00a0 My kids learned early\u00a0in life\u00a0that there was\u00a0ZERO value\u00a0to throwing tantrums or whining, so it wasn’t\u00a0“hard to compete” with the commercial messages at all.\u00a0\u00a0 This is part of what being a parent is all about, after all.<\/p>\n
So, I’m torn about stuff like this. On the one hand, I don’t mind seeing corporations taken down a few notches and \u00a0compelled to behave responsibly – in most cases, hell will freeze over before they’ll do it on their own.\u00a0 But on the other hand, government regulation isn’t\u00a0a substitute for\u00a0responsible parenting – which is really what it\u00a0all\u00a0comes down to.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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