“Diet” products and their marketing have literally taken over. I can’t turn on my television, my radio, my computer, or walk through any store without seeing them. Nutrisystem, Hydroxycut, Green Tea Extract, Slim Fast, a cleanse, a detox, a fat burner… I mean really I could keep going but we all know who I’m talking about. I have to say, I’m really over it now. Why? Simply because they are pushing their inferior and unhealthy “diet” products, and brainwashing a new generation instead of telling the truth. The truth is if we just ate simple, natural, unprocessed foods along with small portions of quality meats and whole grains then most people wouldn’t need to turn to any of the dangerous junk these companies are trying to sell. Let’s cut the bleached flours, the GMO sugars, the fake sugars, the processed meats, the unhealthy fats, and the packaged foods and see how many of those “diet” products we need then.
Why are we so brainwashed?
As an adult looking back I can remember seeing all of these products growing up. The big one then was Slim Fast. When someone I knew was dieting I’d see them carrying around their cans of Slim Fast. As a kid I was always so intrigued by the deceptive chocolate shakes. I wanted to try them! I wanted their dessert too! What I didn’t know is all of those cans, the adds, the marketing, the meal systems, were putting the idea in my head that if someone wanted to diet then this is what they would turn to…… fake food!
Where was the real food? Why didn’t anyone talk about that? Why did dieting come out of a can or a bottle? As a parent I have realized the effects of marketing on kids. I can remember around Valentine’s Day this year my 7 year old said to me “Does every kiss begin with Kay?” I laughed about it then and was wondering what I was supposed to say. However, thinking back now it isn’t funny. Children remember these things and their opinions about life are persuaded by advertising. Not only are these companies selling products that are bad for your health, they are selling ideas to children that are even more unhealthy.
As parents it is time to educate our children about real foods. I’ve heard the phrase “because I said so” come out of the mouth of more parents then I ever really wanted to. While everyone has their own parenting style (and that’s a whole other topic!) this phrase is just not going to cut it when it comes to food and “diet” products. One of the most important things to teach children if your cutting processed foods is why. If you’ve been serving a lot of processed stuff its time to fess up and tell the truth about why these products don’t do anything good for your body. Yes, there might be resistance but that provides the opportunity to talk about what nourishes their bodies and what doesn’t.
I have also heard mothers talk about why they don’t call themselves “fat” in front of their children (daughters specifically). What we really need to pay attention to is the fact that it goes beyond the home. Our children are influenced by more then just what comes out of their parent’s mouth. Our children see skinny people being idolized, and a society that sets standards about body image and weight. Our children see the Nutrisystem adds, the pill bottles at the grocery stores, and celebrities touting yo-yo “diets.” This is why we need to help a generation being brainwashed by a “diet” crazed nation. We as parents need to lead by example. Here a few things you can start doing to address these issues:
- Take your children to the grocery store. If they see everything that is there they will begin to notice the isles you shop and the isles you stay away from.
- Show them ingredients. Compare products, read ingredient lists, talk about what makes one thing better then another.
- Discuss why we avoid certain ingredients and what those ingredients do to our bodies.
- Teach them how to cook! This is super important. It will help your children in 5, 10, 15, 20 years and beyond. Your children will become more interested in ingredients and understand food can be fun, enjoyable, and a time spent together as family.
- Eat a variety of unprocessed foods yourself. This is huge. Your children will probably never have to think about “dieting” later in life if we just teach them what food was meant to do for us to begin with.
- Address the issue directly. Talk to your children about why these products do more harm then good in people’s lives. After all, if any of these products actually worked there wouldn’t be such a huge market for this stuff.
Just to highlight one thing in the list… your children will probably never have to think about dieting later in life if we just teach them what food was meant to do for us to begin with. This is the best piece of information to take away from this. Give your children a good, healthy relationship with food and the chances they will ever need to turn to any of this dangerous junk are reduced!
