It’s no mystery why one in three
children are obese in the United States. McDonald’s advertises their food to
children directly, not just to the older crowd of teenagers or parents. The
fast food chain hooks childrens’ attention by offering plastic toys in their
meals, representing the latest movie out in the movie theaters. The toys are
enough to spark any child’s interest, as well as the cartoons and catchy songs
that are portrayed in the commercials. Let’s not forget about the giant
playgrounds that are planted right in the middle of most of the restaurants.
Any of these factors along with the iconic character, Ronald McDonald, are
aspects of this fast food restaurant that pulls children in.
McDonald’s
media advertisements that are directed at children cause a negative effect on
their health at a young age as well as in their teenage years. According to
Business Insider, McDonalds spent $963 million on advertisements in the year
2011, which is 8.6% higher than the amount spent in 2010. This goes to show
that the marketing world is not slowing down or giving up. There will always be
advertising; it is how our economy works. The negative aspect of growing
advertisements is the targeted audience. Young children are not aware of false
advertising, they believe that everything they see on television is true, and
they don’t understand the difference between what is true or false. McDonalds
promises the Spider Man
action figure in a Happy Meal, however, what they don’t
promise is the nutritious value of the food groups that are essential for
developing children. As children are influenced at such a young age, they grow
up believing that they are choosing the healthy choice. Since they were
children, their parents have taken them to McDonalds, and they always saw
commercials claiming they were eating healthy food. In reality, McDonalds does
not provide the essential food groups or nutrients that a child needs to
develop a healthy lifestyle in later years.
Eating
healthy always leads back to the food pyramid, children are tired of hearing
about it, but they never really seem to learn it.
MyFitnessPal is a website
that anyone can go on and track the foods that they eat for the day, and create
a journal to be aware of what they are consuming, or what food groups they
might need more or less of. The website can search for very specific foods or
meals, such as a
McDonald’s Happy Meal. A McDonald’s Hamburger Happy Meal with
a Coke has a total of 570 calories, which doesn’t seem to raise any red flags
at first, considering children are usually on a 2,000-calorie diet per day. The
danger comes in when you look at the amount of fat, protein, and carbohydrates
the Happy Meal contains. There are 20 grams of fat, 86 grams of carbohydrates,
and 15 grams of protein. According to MyPlate, a person over the age of four
should consume 65 grams of fat per day, 300 grams of carbohydrates per day, and
50 grams of protein per day. These values are developed by the Food and Drug
Administration, and are based on a 2,000-calorie diet. Given the numbers of
grams in the Happy Meal, it might seem like the child is consuming an accurate
amount of grams for one of their meals of the day, however, the source of fat,
protein, and carbohydrates is important. For example, the child is receiving
protein meat in the hamburger, but the burger is not cooked with margarine, it
is cooked with oils and butter, which provide unnecessary fatty acids that can
harm the child’s diet. Also, the bun on the hamburger is white bread, which
provides extra carbohydrates. It is more nutritious to eat whole wheat bread.
Not to mention the Happy Meal comes with French fries, and no source of fruit
or vegetables whatsoever. When parents take their children to McDonald’s
several times during the month, or even during the week, it can cause serious
health issues because the child is not consuming foods from the necessary food
and nutrient groups.
The
MyPlate food pyramid provides guidelines for each food group to direct children
towards a healthy diet. It is important for children to consume foods from
every group of the food pyramid. A deficiency of any food group can lead to a
deficiency in various types of vitamins and minerals, which can cause long term
diseases such as diabetes and obesity. Children should have anywhere from six to
eleven servings of grains, such as cereal, rice, and whole wheat bread. They
should also be provided with three to five servings of vegetables, two to four
servings of fruits, two to three servings of dairy, and two to three servings
of protein. Finally, fats, oils, and sweets also exist on the food pyramid for
children; however, it is recommended to use them sparingly. Since childrens’
bodies are still developing, their bodies don’t need extra oils and fats like
people do when they reach their teenage years.
McDonald’s
media advertisements have a negative impact on children and their diets. They
send a message that is convincing to children, making them believe that
McDonald’s tastes better and is healthier for them than other fast food chains.
According to
TIME,
“Researchers at Stanford University found that children as young as three years
old responded to the fast food chain's familiar logo and packaging, saying that
they preferred the taste of food coming out of McDonald's bags to the taste of
the same food items emerging from plain paper bags.” This goes to show how
children are easily influenced. They think that anything tastes better as long
as it comes from their favorite restaurant, McDonald’s. It is ridiculous to say
that there is a difference in taste between two foods if they came from the
same place, they were just placed in separate bags, one having a McDonald’s
logo, the other not having a logo.
TIME also presents that, “by age two, say the Stanford
researchers, children can already form beliefs about brands, and advertising
during children's television programming, or through other media accessed by
youngsters, further solidifies their ability to distinguish brand names, logos
and packaging. Not surprisingly, in the Stanford study, kids with more access
to television in their homes, and those who owned more toys from McDonald's
were more likely to say the branded foods were tastier.” Although some might
not believe it, children do recognize brands. Their brains are more easily
influenced to advertising than adult minds; however, they can still have
opinions about what they see on television.
Personally, I have
noticed that on the kids’ networks on television, the McDonalds commercials
represent a fun and delicious meal, with children actors and a promise of
toys in the Happy Meals. Interestingly, on other channels that aren’t directed at
children, you won’t see the same McDonalds commercial with kids and toys, you
will see working class people, and McDonalds will be advertising their
low prices, or coffee. By Looking at both of the commercials, the overall tone and message is different. This marketing strategy is not an accident; in fact, it is
the advertisers intention to market McDonalds in such a way. They make the fast
food chain appealing to children by luring them in with toys and fun,
meanwhile, they are luring their parents in with the low prices and coffee to
keep up with their children. It is important for parents to be informed on the
nutritious values, or lack of, in the food that McDonalds advertises and
provides for their children. It is becoming a harmful cycle that Americans are
giving into because of the low cost and convenience. If children continue to
eat McDonalds on such often occasions, the obesity rate will continue to
increase. One in three children in the United States are obese, and that is
triple the rate since 1963. There is no doubt that this statistic will grow
rapidly because of the advertisements presented to children.
In Quebec, Canada,
there was a ban on advertising junk food to children. Because of this ban,
Quebec has the lowest rate of obesity. When children are not exposed to
advertising, they are not influenced that they “need” McDonalds; they are
perfectly content with their mothers’ home cooked meals. In the United States,
unfortunately, this is not always true, and it isn’t always parent’s fault,
they can’t monitor everything their children see. If McDonalds advertising were
not exposed to children, obesity rates would be lower. Since children are more
easily influenced than adults, children make up their minds about certain
brands at a young age, such as McDonalds. If children are informed about
nutritional needs and the food pyramid at a young age instead of being exposed
to McDonalds advertisements while watching cartoons, America could turn around
and be a healthy nation like it has the potential to be.
