Learning at a Young Age

According to the American Heart Association, “Today, about one in three American kids and teens is overweight or obese, nearly triple the rate in 1963.” Drug and alcohol use is becoming less of a concern to parents, and obesity is becoming a main concern. Media and print advertisements easily influence children, resulting in a higher percentage of obesity among teenagers.

Since children’s brains continue to develop well into their teenage years, they are more influenced by advertising. As humans, we are exposed to thousands of advertisements every day. In today’s world, it is our culture to turn to fast food, not only because it is convenient, but also because it can be cheap. The article in The New York Times called “Ban on Advertising to Children Linked to Lower Obesity Rates,” discusses the outcome of children who had not been exposed to fast food advertising.

In Quebec, Canada, there was a ban of fast food advertising to children through any source of media, which resulted in up to four billion calories less consumed in the province. Because of this ban on advertising, Quebec has the lowest childhood obesity rate. The article also discusses how both adults and children are the targeted audience of these advertisements. Commercials are becoming more directed at children, influencing them to ask their parents for a sugary snack for instance. Then, as children develop into teenagers, they make more decisions on their own, and chose unhealthy foods versus more healthy foods.  

            As teenagers head to college, they live life on their own, and they make their own decisions. Parents aren’t there to say no or put vegetable on their plates. It’s up to teenagers to make the healthy choice. The buffet style in the dining hall can be intimidating, and from personal experience, I can say that sure, there are many options. However, it’s difficult to scrape up a healthy meal that meets all of the food group recommendations. If a student is well informed about nutrition, it is easier to pile on the vegetables, instead of the cookies. In order for students to be well informed, they must be taught at a young age. If children’s eating habits are not monitored from a young age, it will result in obesity as they reach their teenage years.

            Fast food advertisements should be banned from children all over the world. With the speed at which the media world is growing, you can’t hide from it forever. Parents should also have a say in what their children are exposed to at such a young age.  As children’s minds develop, they can be easily convinced that the sugary candy they see on television is healthy for them because kids their age are eating them in the commercial. If media such as these commercials were banned from certain channels, the percentage of childhood obesity would decrease, which would essentially decrease the percentage of obesity for all ages. Since fast food or candy advertisements cannot be eliminated completely from society, it is a start to ban them from channels that are considered “kid” channels.

            Fast food commercials even promise the most popular toy with a McDonalds Happy Meal for example, that spark children’s interests, which is why they crave these unhealthy products. The media and advertisers must realize that at a young age, children can develop bad eating patterns that can effect how they look at food when they get older. By the time teenagers reach the college level, they have freedom to eat whatever they want, whenever they want, wherever they want. They don’t have restrictions on channels, or restrictions on food. The only restriction they have is money, which can also be a cause for those fast food runs in the middle of the night. However, this can all be avoided if fast food advertisements were banned to children. There would be a lower percentage of obesity nationwide if children were not exposed to the media and print advertisements of fast food or junk food.