I went looking for new toys for my 2 year old granddaughters the other day and was completely dumbfounded by the choice of unhealthy infant toys readily available for our children. I was so troubled by the vast selection of unhealthy baby toys I felt I needed to vent here, both for myself and for those of you who want to leave notes at the end of the column.
It's risky enough that we adults are bombarded on a daily basis with underhanded advertising strategies meant to brainwash and instigate hyper-consumerist tendencies, but so many of the ploys meant to hook adolescents through their toys is just plain indecent! We as adults can at the very least recognize the rouse. We may still bite, but at least we have the judgment making skills and (for the most part) the capacity to decipher when we are being catered to for our betterment or our disadvantage. Our kids merely don't have that facility; which is why it is up to us to cut out the hazardous baby toys.
One egregious example was the McDonald's McKids toy line. Inside the french fry and burger cases, the backpack, and the kitchen sets were several dozen mini milkshakes, burgers, fries, and cookies. I shouldn't condemn the McDonald's corporation for attempting to profit and let's be honest, they wouldn't sell these toys if someone didn't buy them; but we have to understand that this is how our youngsters acknowledge the brand and link the golden arches with enjoyment as a juvenile. This sort of brand recognition marketing will keep the obesity rate at a steady increase until we as role models take the issue into our own hands and start saying no to destructive child's toys.
I also saw a donut shop toy set...yup, donuts. Let's face it, any child who knows custard filled donuts and iced mocha prior to seeing the inside of the store is destined for cavities and diabetes... and that's the best case scenario.
Like I said, I shouldn't blame these billion dollar businesses for doing what they do first. We already know what they're all about. We know that for the most part they are cold, methodical, profit machines that will do whatever is required to ensure their fiscal well-being. Establishing unhealthy habits in our children can affect their future bottom line.
It is up to us to educate our children so that these marketing firms that are successfully initiating brand recognition at such an early age do not continue on to feed the unhealthy baby habits that feed into the childhood obesity epidemic through unhealthy toys for our children and babies. They will continue to create and market these toys to our little ones, but we need to consider that the authority is always in our hands to say NO!
We can stop purchasing these unhealthy toys for our kids and help our toddlers form good habits; or we can continue down the same path. Let our kids be influenced by people who don't care about them or their well-being. Allow them to be an additional unhealthy statistics in a growing unhealthy society. Or we can do what is correct instead of what is easy. We can value our kids by valuing our purchases for them. We can keep our integrity by giving our kids a fighting chance against the diseases and dysfunction both instigated and ignored by the fast food industry. Either way, it all starts by what we choose to surround our children with.
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