We Need Healthy Vending to Counteract Junk Food Advertising

Before you had children, you may have never noticed the amount of food advertisements that are aimed directly at children. However, now, as a parent, you may be astonished to discover just how much time and money food industry advertisers devote to gaining the attention of your child. As the CEO of a healthy vending machine company and a parent myself, I am appalled at this unfortunately truth. Fortunately, this has not escaped the attention of the many people who are concerned about children’s weight, diet, and health care issues.

To that end, last year the Kaiser Family Foundation released the findings of their study of these very advertisements, and as many parents already suspected, a large number of these ads were devoted exclusively to getting children hooked on junk food. In fact, as the study reported, children ages 2 to 7 were the targets of approximately 12 food ads per day, children ages 8 to 12 were the intended subjects of 21 food ads per day, and children ages 13 to 17 were the targets of about 17 ads per day. In short, the study reaffirmed what parents already believed about food advertising: the average child see hours upon hours of it each year of his or her life.

The study also focused on discovering what kinds of food ads were being directed toward children. And, to almost no one’s surprise, it discovered that the majority of these ads were for candies, unhealthy snack foods, sugary cereals, and fast food restaurants. A very slim portion of the ads were devoted to encouraging children to eat their fruits, veggies, and other healthy food options, but these percentages were dwarfed by the large ad buys of the junk food markets. That said, there are few things that a parent can do to keep their child from viewing these ads. The ads are so pervasive that even if you restrict television viewing in your own home, there are few ways to prevent you child from seeing at least some of these promotions once they cross over your threshold and enter the outside world. So what should you do to counteract the influence of such ads on your children?

Start by teaching your child about the basis of good nutrition. Invite him or her into the kitchen to help you plan and prepare meals for your entire family, allowing your child to make suggestions for healthy entrees or side items. Teach your children how to incorporate fruit and vegetables into mealtime. Prepare healthy snack foods for your children, and encourage them to choose healthy snacks even when they are away from home by selecting options from YoNaturals healthy vending machines. As a parent, you may not be able to stop the ads from being shown to your child, but you can counteract the influence that they have over your child’s food choices.

- Content Approved by YoNaturals Mark Trotter