Childhood obesity, one of the most pressing and dangerous public health challenges of the century. A global issue that continues increasing at an alarming rate and why? because of the constant of exposure to various types of media(mainly advertising). Nowadays, children between the ages of 7 to 18 spend more time in front of a computer, a TV, tablet and, phone than any other activity in their lives other than sleeping and even when or if they aren’t still ’glued’ to their screens, they’re exposed to as many as 5000 advertising messages every day.
Many hypnotic ads target both adults and children but it is the children that are most likely to fall for its influence because of their innocence, lack of experience, overall because they are so young they probably aren’t completely aware of why or what the advertisement is just that they like or what the product thats being advertisements.Next, they influence their parents buying decisions and later on, become adult consumers themselves.
As a parent, you could limit or restrict time thats spent on their phones, computers, tv’s ps4’s xbox’s or whatever device they use,monitor media exposure, choose or give them fitness- oriented gifts, make them do chores, skip the mall, movie theaters, arcades and just enjoy the outdoors , encourage them to have healthy eating habits and to be or get involved in sports because they never know if perhaps they might enjoy it, eat or enjoy your mealtimes together, don’t let your kids advertisements control your purchases, and try to lead by example because its much more easier to motivate your kids to be active if you also live a similar lifestyle.
Speaking of leading or being a good influence to others, in 1980 Quebec banned fast-food companies from advertising to kids in any type of social media or print. As a result, children consumed 13.4 to 18.4 billion calories less and saved 88 million in total in money that would have been used on this type of food. Now Quebec childhood obesity rate is one of the lowest in the world. They understood the risks of advertising unhealthy food options: diabetes, metabolic syndrome, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, asthma, sleep disorders, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, bone fractures, low self esteem, depression which could lead to suicide, being bullied, behavior and learning problems.Overweight children are most likely to stay obese when reaching adulthood,thats why preventing should be top priority because if it doesn’t, then their kids would be influenced by ads and their parents lifestyle until it becomes a cycle that’s unbreakable.
Childhood obesity is a very serious matter, but if your child is or about to become a teenager, then so are E-cigerates (electronic), specifically juuls. They are electronic devices that heat a liquid then produce an aerosol/mix of particles in the air that’s inhaled then exhaled.The company advertises that its the best and healthiest alternative to smoking actual cigerates, in other words, its supposed to help smokers quit but they have now become extremely popular among teens. Some believe it was distributed to teens for the purpose of having “customers for life”. Juul( the company that created the e-cigerates) denies this but are still being currently investigated by the FDA to further regulate and understand e- cigarette use. ‘We are committed to preventing underage use, and we want to engage with FDA, lawmakers, public health advocates and others to keep JUUL out of the hands of young people,”
So far, the only thing that the general public has been made aware of is that the e-cigarettes contain nicotine. The extremely addictive drug thats also in regular cigarettes, which harms the developing brain(specificaly the parts that control attention, learning and impulse control). Their has been evidence that teens who smoke e-cigerattes are more likely to smoke in the future. Scientists are still continuing their investigation of the long-term health affects.
Quebec Childhood Obesity Rate. (2022, Jun 10). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/quebec-childhood-obesity-rate/