In spite of the recent changes made by McDonald’s with regards their Happy Meal selection, study shows that many kids still remain junk food eaters. The threat of obesity with kids is still very much existent, what with all those other calorie packed food we find at the grocery that are obviously targeting the younger market.

According to a report, fast food, supermarket prepared meals, and other meals not being inside the home, is really ruining our kids’ diets. The reason for this may be because these food choices are readily available, very convenient and saves time with the preparations.

The way to curb this, apparently, is to truly make an effort to cook at home and serve meals straight from the kitchen to your family’s dining table.

“We cannot control where these eateries are located or how they prepare their foods, but we can decide to cook more at home, which will ultimately save money and help keep our families healthy,”

It does seem like a lot of work, but ultimately, it’s your kids’ health that benefits from this.

You can start by planning weekly meals, and then buying the ingredients at the grocery store. You have to carefully read the labels of these ingredients and find ways to replace other items that may be deemed as high calorie, or high sugar.

As a consumer, the homemaker has the power to really make sure that her family’s health is at its prime, by paying attention to the food we eat and serve.

This “open letter” was actually written back in January, right before the inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States.  Apparently, Parade Magazine asked the President-elect what he wants for his children.  He responded with this letter.  It’s a little campaign-speechy, but since yesterday was Father’s Day, I thought it was fitting to print the letter here. 

Dear Malia and Sasha,

I know that you’ve both had a lot of fun these last two years on the campaign trail, going to picnics and parades and state fairs, eating all sorts of junk food your mother and I probably shouldn’t have let you have. But I also know that it hasn’t always been easy for you and Mom, and that as excited as you both are about that new puppy, it doesn’t make up for all the time we’ve been apart. I know how much I’ve missed these past two years, and today I want to tell you a little more about why I decided to take our family on this journey.

When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me—about how I’d make my way in the world, become successful, and get the things I want. But then the two of you came into my world with all your curiosity and mischief and those smiles that never fail to fill my heart and light up my day. And suddenly, all my big plans for myself didn’t seem so important anymore. I soon found that the greatest joy in my life was the joy I saw in yours. And I realized that my own life wouldn’t count for much unless I was able to ensure that you had every opportunity for happiness and fulfillment in yours. In the end, girls, that’s why I ran for President: because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation.

I want all our children to go to schools worthy of their potential—schools that challenge them, inspire them, and instill in them a sense of wonder about the world around them. I want them to have the chance to go to college—even if their parents aren’t rich. And I want them to get good jobs: jobs that pay well and give them benefits like health care, jobs that let them spend time with their own kids and retire with dignity.

I want us to push the boundaries of discovery so that you’ll live to see new technologies and inventions that improve our lives and make our planet cleaner and safer. And I want us to push our own human boundaries to reach beyond the divides of race and region, gender and religion that keep us from seeing the best in each other.

Sometimes we have to send our young men and women into war and other dangerous situations to protect our country—but when we do, I want to make sure that it is only for a very good reason, that we try our best to settle our differences with others peacefully, and that we do everything possible to keep our servicemen and women safe. And I want every child to understand that the blessings these brave Americans fight for are not free—that with the great privilege of being a citizen of this nation comes great responsibility.

That was the lesson your grandmother tried to teach me when I was your age, reading me the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence and telling me about the men and women who marched for equality because they believed those words put to paper two centuries ago should mean something.

She helped me understand that America is great not because it is perfect but because it can always be made better—and that the unfinished work of perfecting our union falls to each of us. It’s a charge we pass on to our children, coming closer with each new generation to what we know America should be.

I hope both of you will take up that work, righting the wrongs that you see and working to give others the chances you’ve had. Not just because you have an obligation to give something back to this country that has given our family so much—although you do have that obligation. But because you have an obligation to yourself. Because it is only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you will realize your true potential.

These are the things I want for you—to grow up in a world with no limits on your dreams and no achievements beyond your reach, and to grow into compassionate, committed women who will help build that world. And I want every child to have the same chances to learn and dream and grow and thrive that you girls have. That’s why I’ve taken our family on this great adventure.

I am so proud of both of you. I love you more than you can ever know. And I am grateful every day for your patience, poise, grace, and humor as we prepare to start our new life together in the White House.

There is a wealth of information both online and in journals about the effects of advertizing on children.  Really, it’s too much to put into a blog post; you could have a whole blog with daily posts dedicated to the topic of children and advertizing. 

But we do know that children absorb messages from the wider culture, and advertizers are the ones who put those messages into the wider culture.  Now, this isn’t all bad; how will consumers know what’s available if we don’t see it advertized?  People need to sell stuff and people need to buy stuff, and advertizing facilitates that relationship.

The scare stuff is when that relationship is built on exploitation of any group of people, but especially kids.  There are ads that exploit kids’ need to fit in, to feel secure, or to get positive attention.  There are ads that exploit gender or racial sterotypes, and kids just assume that anything they see on TV or in print is reliable.  Now, we adults know that’s not true, but kids accept the authority of what they see. 

Among the overwhelming amount of information and opinion on this topic, here are a few facts, gathered chiefly from the Love Your Body Day website.

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  • For children ages 6-17, the number one after-school activity is watching TV.

 

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  • Students spend about 900 hours in the classroom and 1,500 hours in front of the TV each year.

 

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  • Children who watch four or more hours of TV a day are less likely to read at grade level or play well with friend. Children who watch four or more hours of TV a day are more likely to believe claims made by advertisers.

 

 

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  • Saturday morning commercial TV advertisers bombard children with ads for sugary cereal, salty snacks, fast food and junk food.

 

 

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  • Before teens reach the legal drinking age they have watched 100,000 alcohol commercials.

Those are only a few of the alarming statistics you can find about kids and ads.  We don’t have to wrap our kids in cotton wool or lock them away from the world.  But we should take the time to talk to them about what they see and hear, so that they will learn to think critically about the advertizing that they abosrb. 

Remember, advertizers’ job is to sell stuff.  They are not interested in our children’s well-being…that’s our job.