The Heavy on Kids, Food, and Diet Ads

From the Editors of Common Sense Media

May 24, 2007

It's almost bathing suit season -- a fact that's not lost on the dieting and entertainment industries. Everywhere kids turn, they see ads promoting weight-loss products and magazines showcasing how people have become shadows of their former selves. Yet marketing junk food to kids remains a $10 billion annual business. So is it any wonder that studies show that 2/3 of underweight 12-year-old girls already think they're too fat?

Media plays a big role in our kids' weight struggles. Between unrealistic images of slimness and constant junk food marketing, our children are bombarded by messages that don't result in healthy attitudes and practices when it comes to their bodies.

These tips can help your kids be realistic and healthy :

• De-code junk food ads. Point out that there's a junk food ad every 5 minutes during Saturday morning cartoons. Tell your kids that the food and beverage industry spends billions of dollars to put pictures of their favorite cartoon characters on less-than-healthy food. Ask your kids why they think advertisers place their ads where they do and use the celebrities they use. What emotions or aspirations are the advertisers hoping to create in your kids? What isn't the advertiser saying in the ad? Click here for a great tip sheet.

• Do some myth busting. What promises do ads make that might be unrealistic? Help your kids do a reality check on the associations that ads create. Do your kids really think that if they buy a certain food, they'll look like the people selling it?

For the full article and more tips on kids, food, and diet ads, please visit:  http://www.commonsensemedia.org/parent_tips/commonsense_view/index.php?id=237 .