Santa Clara County California has banned the sale of Happy Meals and other such enticing promotions focused on children. This effort is aimed at making children have healthier eating habits.
NY Times reports:
The criteria, which are based on federal standards and recommendations from the nonprofit Institute of Medicine, would apply to all fast-food restaurants giving away toys in meals in-tended for children. Ken Yeager, the board president, said the new law would level “the playing field by taking away the incentive to choose fatty, sugary foods over healthier options.”
“What we’re trying to do is de-link the connection between unhealthy food and toys,” said Mr. Yeager, who added that he believed children chose their meals based on the giveaway that came with it. “Why would a kid say ‘I want a burger with fries’? It’s the toys that they want.”
This is controversial to say the least and I am not sure exactly where I sit on this one. I believe that a positive reinforcement will produce the same behavior again. When you praise your children for doing something that you would like them to do again they are more likely to repeat it. Works like a charm! So, the same theory would apply to recieving a toy with your unhealthy meal choice. Let’s do that again, right?
My children never cry because they are not getting the happy meal simply because McDonalds has never been on our radar. The car does not head in that direction and my 7 year old is convinced that the fun looking play structures inside are just to trick you into eating unhealthy food. I once received a call from a parent when he was in preschool because of his lobbying. She wanted me to tell him to stop telling her son that there are chemicals in the food…..oops! I am not entirely convinced that legislation is going to make a difference in the way people choose to eat healthy or not. I think the way children eat is from the way they learn about food at home. Let’s educate people on the beauty and deliciousness of healthy food and then you will make change. Thank you Jamie Oliver!
Is it the corporation’s that we should be looking at? After all, we have a choice to dine at a particular restaurant or not. I wonder what the cafeteria is selling in the Santa Clara County Schools? Hopefully someone looked there first since school is not an option. Just food for thought…
Nickie
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5 Comments On This Post
Nickie,
As I read this, i felt like Iwas reading something I wrote! I too was confronted (somewhat nicely) by a parent at my son’s preschool for the same reason. Leo, who is now 6, said the same thing to his classmates. My 4 year old says that if someone took him to McDonald’s he would throw the food away and run screaming away! Too funny…to me, anyway. Thank you for sharing and I am behind Santa Clara on this, even though I undertand, and agree, that we need to teach our children to make wise choices there is something to be said for removing “bad” things from the decision table. banning things does not necessarily create desire and education and discussion are the tools we have as parents to help our children grow into wise, informed adults.
Sorry one more thing…Joe Camel was banned from Camel’s advertising for a reason — it made smoking appealing and fun to a young crowd. Happy Meals are similar. Apples instead of fries is NOT an answer! MSG is an addicitve chemical that is prevalent in McDonald’s burgers and our children do not need more chemicals in their tiny growing bodies.
great post as usual!
I am conflicted about this one. I love what Santa Clara is doing. Way to be ahead of the curve, Santa Clara. On the other hand parents need to be informed and on board about giving their children and themselves healthy food. So, much more teaching of good habits needs to be done rather than just taking away the offending substance and letting them go next door to the other unhealthy eating joint and get their unhealthy food from there.
While I’m not big on eating fast food, I don’t like this idea. Where does personal responsibility play in all this? We need to educate people about what is considered healthy food and what is not not banning toys from kids meals. It just gets rid of the toy, it doesn’t change the fact that these restaurants are serving the same food. I don’t want my city to take away my choice about what I feed my family. I choose not to feed my family fast food often. What if another city passes a bill that says I HAVE to feed my family fast food?