According to the Ottawa Citizen which is a newspaper published in Canada there is a movement afoot to ban the advertising of junk foods in order to reduce obesity in the 'under thirteen' group of children.
This was motivated by a study done by a progressive kid's doctor named Dr. McKeown who is the chief medical officer of health in Toronto, Ontario. This doctor is saying that kid's eating patterns influence how and what they eat as an adult and this has a life long consequence in terms of their health. No kidding! The kid that eats pizza in front of the television now is probably still going to be in the habit of doing that when they are thirty-five.
So the idea is that you have to get your children eating healthy now, which is something that I wholeheartedly agree with. It is why I cook so much with my children now. I am trying to teach them healthy eating habits they can take with them for the rest of their life. By teaching them how to cut carrots, make muffins and create other healthy foods I am also teaching them how to stay healthy and live a long life (as well as how to not spend a mint on food.)
Dr. McKeown is like the Michael Moore of kid's food and his banning of junk food is an idea that is way ahead of its time. It is probably not going to happen but this doctor is going to try to get rid of unhealthy foods that are marketed to kids in Canada.
The doctor's attempts to lobby the Canadian government seem to be scaring the junk food companies as quite recently sixteen of Canada’s largest candy, fast-food and soft-drink companies promised not to advertise directly to children under 12, or to market only healthy snacks (like milk) to them. This is at least a start. I would think that banning junk foods and instant foods in cafeterias would also be the next logical step.
I for one thing think that this is a great idea as I am sick of seeing kids falling for the idea that certain foods are healthy when really they are not. There are lots of foods out there being marketed as being nutritious when really they are quite unhealthy. For instance many of the drinks out there that are called a good source of Vitamin C are actually full of sugar. The same goes for many different types of cereals. I am half expecting to see a commercial soon that goes – 'Ice cream- A good source of calcium!' Or how about 'Coca-Cola – a natural source of real cane sugar!'
Banning the advertising of junk food certainly would be a start. This measure would also make my kids less demanding every time we go to the grocery store. Currently they are always asking for foods that are just not that good for them.