That's the issue here. The food industry is so focused on making money that they are not above selling out our kids to make a buck. I grew up eating Count Chocula, Froot Loops (selling sugar AND illiteracy), Fruity Pebbles and many others. If it didn't have tons of sugar and a prize in the bottom of the box I didn't eat it. Except when I ate Live when I wanted to feel adult (because there was no cartoon character on the box). My childhood friends were Twinkie the Kid and Cheeto the Cheeta. And things are worse now then they were back then. At least in between all the junk food I ate I had real meals. Fast food was a treat, not an every day meal. And still I always had a belly. So what chance do these kids have today when things are much worse.
So in typical fashion they are trying to put a bandaid on the problem rather than fix it. If we can't get the food industry to promote healthier foods then how about education, giving kids better options. My mom used to always say, "you should eat fruit instead of candy" but then she always bought red apples and oranges. It wasn't until I discovered Kiwi, Starfruit, Pineapple and Granny Smith Apples that I found I liked fruit but that wasn't until adulthood. If you give kids boring healthy options they'll never get excited about eating healthy. Lowfat Yogurt sprinkled with granola and colorful berries will be more of a treat for them than a tub of Yoplait. All natural peanut butter on whole grain bread will be an easy switch from Skippy on white bread. And spending time with a child while teaching them how wonderful healthy food can be will be a lot more effective than throwing a red apple in a lunch bag. It's up to the parents to teach kids healthy eating and the schools to have physical fitness programs put on by people other than ex-athletes who try to relive their glory days through high school sports teams and who bully and pick on the kids who aren't athletic.
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