I eat fairly healthy - I read the labels - even low sodium claims are bogus - Problem is that high sodium is standard in many foods, sauces etc.
And we will not even go into what the sodium levels are in restaurants.
Canadians back ban on junk food ads targeting kids
- Thread starter mentalfloss
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I eat fairly healthy - I read the labels - even low sodium claims are bogus - Problem is that high sodium is standard in many foods, sauces etc.
And we will not even go into what the sodium levels are in restaurants.
I don't know that this will make much difference. Kids are fat because of lack of exercise more than anything. I support the idea of cutting back on crap food ads for everyone, though. It isn't just kids that are fat.
I'd support putting a tax on any foods with ingredients that cause higher risk traits, as well.
Then all we would have to do is get people to exercise, as well as getting Liberal and whatever other gov'ts to stick to using that money for healthcare alone instead of scooping it in non-health areas.
I'd support putting a tax on any foods with ingredients that cause higher risk traits, as well.
Then all we would have to do is get people to exercise, as well as getting Liberal and whatever other gov'ts to stick to using that money for healthcare alone instead of scooping it in non-health areas.
Someone should if parents aren't willing to do it.
Only if you consider companies to be people. I don't. Companies are just tools people use to make profits, IMO.
Do they cause health problems? lol
Hey! Leave my pizzas out of this! They are not junk food. They contain grains, vegetables, and protein foods. They can't really even be considered to be fast foods even. lol
Cool. I wouldn't mind a burger like that. I like carrots. It's that tofu crap that's weird.How bout we just legislate new standards for Junk Food Vendors.
Lentil Carrot Burger anyone?
Yup. They do some weird things over there. Bush, Cheney and other such dipshytes passed a law making companies the same as people. So Frito Lay, Coca Cola, Exxon, etc. are persons over there. Go figure.
Right on, Petros!
Actually people's metabolisms change throughout their lives. Habits can change, too. But I agree that parents should get their kids used to eating healthy foods right from day one. That way kids stand a better chance of continuing the habit in later years.
Just about anything in a grocery store is packaged. You mean processed foods, I think. Stuff like Sandwich meats, salad dressings, etc. I think.
Yep. Buy whole foods and process them yourself. They taste better anyway, IMO. Wife and I can a lot of food and make our own salsa, tomato paste, and we have a butcher that makes our moose sausage and whatever else using no salts and other crap.
Yes, that is what I was referring to. Also pre packaged ready to eat meals. Full of crapola.
And indeed Pizza is heatlhy, when you include vitimin B - Beer.
Stable, structured environments are best for children. Today's rushed lifestyle is probably what led to unhealthy eating, but if people would slow down and establish routines around meals, I think children would naturally gravitate towards healthier foods. I had never eaten a hamburger until I was about 18 years old ... that first time was when I was out with friends and they encouraged me to try it. How is that possible? It was quite simple. I was raised by people that grew up or lived with war when some foods were sparse. The rule at the breakfast and lunch table was that we were allowed to put one thing on each slice of bread ... reasoning probably being that the bread was cheaper and would fill us up. One piece of bread, one slice of ham ... open sandwich style. We could eat as many open faced sandwiches as we wanted, but we weren't allowed to eat all the ham and cheese and whatever else we wanted on one slice of bread. This also meant that the breakfast and lunch tables were set ... with all the possible sandwich toppings on the table for the meal ... like sliced strawberries, chocolate chips (Dutch style), herring, sardines and other weird stuff . Setting eating habits early in life kind of stays with people for life. Hamburgers are loaded with all sorts of things like cheese, pickles and cooked beef at the same time ... that's a bit weird unless it is the norm. Children that are loaded up with kraft dinner & ketchup, alphagetti, hotdogs, pizza, french fries, food that is camouflaged by the flavours of other foods and other junk foods probably gravitate towards those foods for life.
Simple open faced sandwiches for breakfast and lunch probably seems so old fashioned and weird in todays culture, but I'm pretty sure it could go a long way towards setting healthier lifelong eating habits. Parents today should try some of those old fashioned habits and see if children are generally healthier while making better food choices.
Simple open faced sandwiches for breakfast and lunch probably seems so old fashioned and weird in todays culture, but I'm pretty sure it could go a long way towards setting healthier lifelong eating habits. Parents today should try some of those old fashioned habits and see if children are generally healthier while making better food choices.
I'm curious how you think parents should/would combat the plethora of 'consumption equals happiness' messages that our children are inundated with. Just.... as a parent I haven't quite yet figured out what specifically 'my job' is supposed to be to battle that mentality.
Oh, it definitely is a good meal if vitamin B is added. lol
Open faced sandwiches are fine, but there's also nothing wrong with 2 pieces of bread on each side of tomato, lettuce, cheese, and a slice of ham. That's 3 food groups in a bundle, like pizza. A parent should pay attention to how much a kid eats and compare that with how much the kid needs to eat. Calories can add up if a kid doesn't do anything to exercise.
Yeah, that's a tough one. I'd suggest trying to limit a kid's exposure to ads until a decent, healthy view on diet can be installed into the kid.
See, here's where the whole system falls apart, and where the government is finally starting to panic and scramble (although I do agree with the crux of your post).... eventually kids move out. They get jobs, their own money, time unsupervised, and they make choices based on flashy ads and the promise of gratification. The result is an obesity epidemic that doesn't encompass merely kids, it encompasses the adults raising them, and the adults they will become as well. They're trying to get down to the very root of it. And trust me... I've sat in enough classes on the cognitive causes of obesity in recent months to know that targeting the marketing is step one. Maybe if we can at least eliminate a tiny fraction of the marketing that tells us to consume for every last little thing that hurts or depresses us, then we can start clawing our way back up.
Well, I still think the first step is to get parents to get the kids into decent diets to begin with.
We didn't starve our kids from having a bit of junk food now and then, but we first got it into their heads that those occasions of junk food eating were a treat, not a regular habit.
We didn't starve our kids from having a bit of junk food now and then, but we first got it into their heads that those occasions of junk food eating were a treat, not a regular habit.
i agree. my kids have probably the best rounded diets of any kids I know. We kept junkfood out of the house except for company occasions. No juice, no cookies. McD's perhaps once or twice a year on road trips.
It's not a magic bullet. My kids still struggle. I still struggle. Thus my inquiry to those who think they know 'the' way to avoid the problem... lol.
It's not a magic bullet. My kids still struggle. I still struggle. Thus my inquiry to those who think they know 'the' way to avoid the problem... lol.
Another fact is that kids today are inundated with imagery and sales pitches everywhere. It has become unrealistic for parents to try and parent their kids the way past generations have. When I was a kid, mom didn't work outside the home, there were three channels on the TV, one or two radio stations and no internet or social media. It's a different world today and I get a kick out of the old farts that think that because they were able to raise their kids in a particular fashion 30 years ago, everybody should be able to do it today.
I agree that it's unrealistic to expect parents to raise kids like now is like decades ago. But they should at least make a decent effort at raising their kids to adopt healthy habits. It's just a lot harder to do now than it was decades ago.
Marketing strategies are extremely insidious at getting people, especially impressionable kids, to buy stuff. But it isn't impossible to THINK about them and pick apart their ads. IE, one of our bugs is the comment in ads that says, "buy our product and save". Well, DUH. How can you save by buying? Getting people to see that more and bigger aren't really better helps quite a bit.
Thank you for answering your own question...;-)
Notwirhstanding the denigration of "old farts" by some other poster in this forum, every chance he gets....
No juice.... water, milk, and whole fruits/vegetables. Why juice when the whole fruit gives you the benefit of fibre?
They banned cigarette adds aimed at kids. What's the difference? If it was up to me junk food itself would be banned. Except doughnuts.
Another point about parental responsibility. Let's look at a pedophile for a moment. While parents are busy juggling all kinds of responsibilities, the pedophile is focused on one objective only. So while the parent still has a responsibility, he has to let his guard down only once for the pedophile to strike. The same applies to professional marketers. They have but one focussed objective and responsibility. parents need to let their guard down only once for the ads to hit the kid.
Honestly, though, I would be opposed to taxing meals per se and would focus on taxing the ingredients instead. obviously two pizzas are not equal if their ingredients are different.
Honestly, though, I would be opposed to taxing meals per se and would focus on taxing the ingredients instead. obviously two pizzas are not equal if their ingredients are different.