McDonalds: Revealing the Truth

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          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.

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            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.

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            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.

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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. 

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.