Marketing and Childhood Obesity in the Twenty-First

Marketing and Childhood Obesity

In the twenty-first century obesity is growing out of control in many counties in the developed world. A combination of a sedentary lifestyle, a high-fat diet, and sugary drinks, have driven up the average human weight to the point in which it is having a serious negative effect on the overall health of a large number of individuals. This is particularly serious with regards to our younger population. Childhood obesity, a condition in which excess body fat negatively affects a child's health, is reaching epidemic proportions in the developed world. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) (2010) childhood obesity has more than tripled over the last 30 years. Incidences of obesity among children ages 6 to 11 has risen from 6.5% in 1980 to 19.6% in 2008. Among adolescents ages 12 to 19 the obesity rate increased from 5% to 18.1percent during the same period.

Discussion

Teenagers spend over 100 billion dollars on their own, while their parents spent another 50 billion on them annually. This ability to impact the economy has made this generation the most studied and courted by the marketing industry in history (Goodman, 2001). Because of advertising, ease, and constant pressure, modern children are not educated enough about their diets to understand the consequences of their choices. They prefer products with lots of refined sugars, snack foods, high carbohydrates, and those that are easy to prepare and find. When this is combined with playing computer games or watching television instead of playing outside there is an imbalance in caloric input/output. Most children, in fact, fail to exercise because they prefer stationary activities such as computer games, internet surfing, chatting via text messages, and watching television. This leaves fat stored in the body (Lluch, et al., 2000).

Clearly, it is in the best interests of students to insist on a healthier diet. Studies show that contrary to popular opinion, students actually like fresh fruit and salads if they are available. The positives of using public policy to redevelop school breakfast and lunch programs, and to ensure healthy snacks and drinks are available is neither novel nor new but it is necessary. The benefits include a higher and more consistent student who attends class, pays attention, and behaves well. This student statistically has better test scores, is on task, is sick less, and is typically in a better mood during the class day (Nelson & Zeratsky, 2010).

Conclusion