Yes, April Fool’s has come and gone, but there is one category of that we consumers really must be on the lookout for:
Misleading Advertising
Or dare I say deceitful, devious and maybe even down-right dangerous.
What’s got my panties in a bunch you ask?
Here’s the back story.
I don’t watch television often, and when I do, I generally fast forward past commercials or otherwise occupy my time with something more productive when I can’t skip the ad.
However, the other evening, I was drawn to an ad for a children’s ‘health drink’. I think it was being marketed as a healthy snack that provided protein and vitamins. The message was essentially, if you have a kid who can’t keep up with older siblings or other kids, adding this drink a.k.a. ‘nutrition shake’ would provide all the vitamins a kid needs and may be missing in a normal balanced diet. And by the way – it’s DELICIOUS.
As parents, we all want to do what’s best for our kids and we certainly want to offer healthy snacks as opposed to junk food as much as we possibly can.
The nature of this ad really struck a chord with me. I’m skeptical about anything that is supposed to replace real food and that kids find DELICIOUS.
So I looked up the product and just as I expected, the ingredients list revealed primarily sugar, with a lot of chemicals for processing, and basically a weak multivitamin.
This probably hit me so hard because to this day I regret that when my kids were young, the big ‘health drink’ was Sunny Delight. As a busy parent, working and going to school, I fell for the health food marketing scam. The truth is that Sunny D is mostly sugar with a little tiny amount of fruit juice. It says there are vitamins C and B1 but looking at the nutrition label there’s not enough to include the percentages as part of a 2000 calorie diet.
Years later, I know so much more about nutrition, label reading and the health consequences of too much sugar. To this day, I still feel guilty for having made that choice for my kids. And that’s why I’m writing this blog for you today.
We have a real health crisis in our country. Recent stats, according to the CDC, report that about 18.5% of kids 2-19 years of age are obese. OBESE! Not just overweight. Broken down by age, it looks like this: 13.9% 2-5 year-olds, 18.4% 6-11 year-olds, and 20.6% 12-19 year-olds.
When we include the term ‘overweight’ in the statistics the numbers are as high as 1 in 3 children are overweight or obese, according the American Heart Association (AHA). And here’s the kicker, the AHA explains:
- Nearly 60 percent of overweight children age 5 to 17 have at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease and 25 percent have two or more.
- Obese kids have an 80 percent chance of staying obese their entire lives.
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Childhood obesity may also lead to significant health problems, including:
- Type 2 diabetes
- Asthma
- Sleep apnea
- Psychological stress, including low self-esteem, caused by social stigma of being obese
As you know, I sermonize about the health consequences of too much sugar. So why, OH WHY, do we inflict this on our innocent kids who are unable to make these healthy choices for themselves? And WHY must we as parents and consumers be so vigilant in questioning everything a company is trying to sell to our kids?
It infuriates me!
Grown-ups, you have the power. Learn to read a nutrition label. At the very least, look at the ingredients. They are listed in order of highest percentage to lowest. When you look at a label, if the first ingredient is some form or sugar (sugar, glucose, fructose, corn syrup, barley malt, cane sugar, dextrose, high fructose corn syrup, maltose, mannitol, and many more), it’s probably NOT a good choice for your kids or for you.
In the case of the marketing for this healthy drink, a glass of water, a multivitamin and a boiled egg would provide the same nutrition with 1/3 the calories. I know a boiled egg isn’t as tempting as a sweet chocolate drink – but you get the picture. As grown-ups, surely, we can find an alternative for our kids – right?
I hope you find this information helpful, even if you don’t have kids or grandkids, maybe you know someone who does and who would be interested. Please feel free to share.
When we take care of our kids, we take care of our future.
Until next time,
Be well
P.S. I am proud to share with you that I’ve just been certified as a Medical Exercise Specialist! I’m sure you’ll be hearing more from me on that front.
