Parent Power
Our children consume huge amounts of junk food, and don't eat nearly enough
fruit and
vegetables for good health. Levels
of physical activity in our children are also worryingly low. These lifestyle
habits are a deadly combination. There is clear evidence to suggest
that poor diet and lack of physical activity increase the risk for coronary
heart disease, type II diabetes and certain cancers, amongst other chronic
illnesses.
Lifestyle choices
also affect performance in every area
of human endeavour. Poor diet and
lack of physical activity affect mood, academic performance, and may even contribute to behavioral difficulties
like ADHD.
There is nothing wrong with kids drinking soft drinks or eating
sweets now and again, but junk food has become a daily part of the diet.
Children watching TV for more than 3 hours per day is becoming increasingly
common, and this passivity is dangerous. You can
check what the World Health Organisation has to say about this issue by clicking
here. Poor lifestyle habits are becoming the norm, and this is a real
problem.
This hasn't happened by accident. Parents are under sustained pressure from
advertisers to buy certain products for their children. Children themselves are
targeted. Advertisers often make dodgy claims about their products, and employ
tactics like "the nag factor" to get parents to buy. We do out best to
highlight this. If we see an advertising claim that doesn't stand up, we aim to
make parents aware of it. You can see some examples here.
Lots of money is being made on the back of our lifestyle disaster, and we think
that it is high time that this issue was exposed.
Parents are a target. We aim to show you how you are targeted, and to
provide you with information so that you can make your own decisions. We
want to help parents "Take the Power Back", so that our children's
health isn't governed by the whims of advertisers and marketing executives.
