by Lucinda Davis

Created on: June 10, 2009   Last Updated: July 08, 2009

Advertising is effecting our children like never before. Marketing towards kids and teenagers has become obvious because it's excessive. Our children are easy targets and parents today typically are trying to please their children. Advertisers know this and that is why they are going after your kids. They also know, if they draw your child in as a consumer, that your child will form a habit and become a lifetime customer.

There are plenty of statistics and studies that show how fast food is affecting the obesity rate. There are medical studies that tell you the effect of fast food on our bodies. Statistics show that advertisers are pushing more ads at our kids for fast food than they pump at us.

There is a vicious cycle going on that we need to look at here. Our society has more parents getting divorced and custody battles arise. The parents compete for the child's love and attention. The child is with one parent for just every other weekend and probably gets whatever they want from at least one parent. So the tired, battle-beaten parents, who are fighting with each other and working overtime, are more likely to surrender to their children when they beg for the toy that comes with the cheap fast meal.

This is just part of problem. While you are wrapped up in your world of turmoil, your child is being babysat by your television. The television fills your child's head full of ideas of wonderment and beliefs. Your television begins conditioning your child's mind to buy and consume. Since you are exhausted from life's battles, a visit to the "happy place" is just what you think you and the kids need each time one of your kids suggest going.

Unfortunately our children are not educated enough to have the knowledge about food and it's nutrients. Our children don't know how fast food makes your body and mind feel. Our children don't care what's in a burger. They just know the burger tastes better than broccoli and they get a free toy!

Since obesity is on the rise and currently a problem it's becoming more acceptable to be fat. Some teenage girls don't care they have muffin tops hanging over their jeans because their friends do. Also, society is telling us to prevent teen suicide, we need to boost their confidence; so, you can't criticize them for being fat. You need to make them feel accepted. I agree with that. However, when health is an issue, you need to educate these young people to understand what they are doing to their bodies and why.

The television will continue to batter your child's mind until it has brainwashed them to consume more and more whether they need it or not. I reflect upon the kids movie "Wall-E" and wonder if this is where we are headed. Will our grand children or their children be bussled around in chairs because they are too fat? Oh I forgot, we already have people that have become too obese to walk that rely on their electric wheelchair.

Kids and adults, for that matter, will like to eat what their taste buds are trained to like. If you raise them from infants giving them carrots, broccoli and other nutritious foods, then they will learn at a young age to like these things. As a parent, you have to be proactive to keep them eating that way and keep the commercials from influencing them through training and education. It's all a matter of conditioning. Are you going to let the advertisers educate your children or will you take control of your child's health and your own?

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