A parent sent me a link to a blog post yesterday. They were outraged and were compelled to share it with me.
As I examined this post, I grew increasing concerned. Because it was not just an article about kids going back to school, it was in fact advertorial presented as a simple post by a fellow busy mum. I found this out as it carried the tagline ‘This post was written thanks to our brand partner’ tagline, at the bottom. Not surprisingly it was also surrounded by ads by the same brand partner.
But the feature in middle was just advice, parent to parent, about getting healthy food into your kids lunchbox.
The problem our parent had was the brand partner was not promoting healthy options. It was a sugar laden lunchbox product with no redeeming features. We all like to treat our kids now and then, everything in moderation is the rule in my house.
To present this snack as an everyday food is irresponsible.
These foods are promoted to parents and children from all angles. This time of year supermarkets and their catalogues are full of ‘back to school’ specials. With very few exceptions the pages are full of highly processed foods, full of fat, sugar and salt.
If these foods were the exception, if school lunches and canteens were overflowing with whole foods, vegetables and fruits, if snack bars were a treat not a lunch box staple, I would be less outraged.
As it stands Australian children are eating more and moving less. They deserve better.
