Healthy Eating Messages and Children Nutrition - Essay Example

Healthy Eating Messages and Children’ Nutrition Introduction Nutrition has been traditionally considered as a significant factor to the formulation of the health condition of any human being. A report that has published by the World Health Organization in 2003 refers to nutrition as a ‘major modifiable determinant of chronic disease, with scientific evidence increasingly supporting the view that alterations in diet have strong effects, both positive and negative, on health throughout life’ (WHO, 2003, 2).On the other hand, the role of television has been proved to be significant towards the development of specific nutritional preferences both to children and in adults. As Gorn et al. (1982, 200) found ‘television advertising for children is developed from direct testing and observation of the child audience; Children are subjected to research techniques developed for the study of child psychology to determine the most effective way of inducing their counterparts in the nationwide audience to demand advertised products’. Under this intensive observation, the advertising addressed to children manages to achieve the target set by the multinational corporations, i.e. the ‘cultivation’ of specific nutritional preferences to children of all ages in accordance with the production line of these firms. In the same context, Smitt et al. (2007, 57) stated that ‘the issues of food advertisements, especially aimed at children, and food labeling are factors behind the obesity epidemic which need to be tackled while commercial communication increases consumer information; however, the promotion of unhealthy foods negatively impacts the health of the population and for this reason actions need to be taken to protect children from commercial activity in this field’. The above assumptions are in accordance with the findings of WHO in 2003 which indicate that ‘dietary adjustments may not only influence present health, but may determine whether or not an individual will develop such diseases as cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes much later in life’ (WHO, 2003, 2). In fact it has been found that wrong nutritional ‘habits’ can lead to severe consequences for the health not only in adults but also in children. More specifically, a research made by the World Health Organization in 2003 showed that ‘higher blood pressure in childhood (in combination with other risk factors) causes target organ and anatomical changes that are associated with cardiovascular risk, including reduction in artery elasticity, increased ventricular size and mass, haemodynamic increase in cardiac output and peripheral resistance; high blood pressure in children is strongly associated with obesity, in particular central obesity, and clusters and tracks with an adverse serum lipid profile (especially LDL cholesterol) and glucose intolerance’ (WHO, 2003, 34). All the above issues have to be considered very carefully from the governmental authorities that have the responsibility to design the legal framework that will regulate the relevant activities. Methodology I. Research group In order to examine the nutritional habits of children, we should primarily refer to the most common forms of nutritional ethics as presented in children of all ages through the media. At a next level, the role of the media will be evaluated in accordance with the influence they have in the formulation of specific nutritional preferences in children around the world although the research refers mostly to UK. Moreover, the role of any other potential factors to the nutritional preferences of children is being examined with a special reference to the influence of the family environment. As for the age of the participants, this is characterized by the existence only of an upper limit (i.e. until the 18th years old) including children of all ages up to the specific age. II. Literature Review Generally, it has been stated that ‘rapid changes in diets and lifestyles that have occurred with industrialization, urbanization, economic development and market globalization, have accelerated over the past decade, a phenomenon that has a significant impact on the health and nutritional status of populations, particularly in developing countries and in countries in transition’ (WHO, 2003, 1). For this reason a series of relevant efforts has taken place in all countries around the world in order for the people of all ages (and specifically the children) to be protected from any potential harm of their health as it could be resulted from malnutrition. A Series of surveys also took place in many countries in order for the possible negative effects of malnutrition to be identified and evaluated. In this context, Rainville et al. (2003, 2) refer to a nationwide survey that conducted in US in 2003. More specifically, it is mentioned that this survey ‘was developed, pilot tested, and sent to a random national sample of K-12 foodservice directors, foodservice managers, school superintendents, principals, school business officials, teachers, and coaches in October 2003; A total of 3,500 surveys were mailed, 500 in each of the seven groups; the overall response rate was 34.9%; respondents ranked the following components as barriers to an HSNE (program related with the establishment of health nutrition standards in schools all over the country) in decreasing order of importance: a) funding for school foodservice, b) competitive foods, c) children’s peer pressures, d) television/media, e) menus, f) funding for school activities, g) cafeteria atmosphere, h) parental attitudes’ (Rainville et al., 2003, 2). Although the responses to the above survey were very helpful towards the identification of the weaknesses of the nutrition program involved, however the percentage of participation indicates that the particular issue has not been considered by the participants as having significant importance for the health of children involved. From another point of view Lewis (2006, 3) examined the views of children ‘on non-broadcast food and drink advertising’ and for this reason he consulted over 200 children and ‘spoke to over 100 via face-to-face consultations in primary school and youth group settings while an additional 132 completed an on-line survey which was developed to canvass their opinions more widely; children revealed that their exposure to non-broadcast food and drink advertising is huge, and that it has an enormous influence on the choices they make – steering them towards heavily marketed and branded products that tend to be high in fat, salt and sugar; in this context, measures to restrict non-broadcast food and drink advertising to children are vital’. The children supported their opinion stating that non-broadcast advertising for food and drink is ‘everywhere you look’ and that ‘it is usually for products that they consider to be ‘unhealthy’ such as sweets, chocolate, fizzy drinks and fast food1; despite knowing that heavily marketed and branded foods are often unhealthy, children find the taste and presentation of these products hugely appealing’ (Lewis, 2006, 4). The above findings prove that the power of media regarding the formulation of specific nutritional preferences is really high. Media has proved as having a significant influence on children regarding the food and drink offered to the latter while this influence is sometimes difficult to be diagnosed. On the other hand, it has been found that ‘while previous food-related concerns have centred on nutrition, dental health, dieting and anorexia, high levels of concern in the UK and other Western countries currently centre on the evidence of rising obesity among children’ (World Health Organization 2000). In this context, Livingstone (2005) refers to ‘the 1997 National Diet and Nutrition Survey for 4–18 year olds which found that one in five were classified as overweight or obese (Gregory 2000), and the Royal College of Physicians reports that obesity doubled among 2–4 year olds between 1989 and 1998, and trebled among 6–15 year olds between 1990 and 2002 (Ambler 2004; Kaiser Foundation 2004, in Livingstone, 2005, 2).The above findings should be evaluated in accordance with the views of Lewis (2006, 4) who suggested that ‘children’s ability to make informed, healthy choices is also inhibited by the mixed messages they receive about healthy eating from different sources, including the media, schools and their parents while misleading and confusing claims on products, unclear labelling, and celebrity endorsements all leave them puzzled about what they should or should not eat and drink’. In other words, obesity in children – as well as many other risks related with mal nutrition - could be possibly limited if children were given the appropriate messages from their environment (family, school) or the media. At a next level, the consequences of mal nutrition in children have been examined by the WHO (2003). A relevant report of the above organization reveals that ‘in a study of 11--12 year-old Jamaican children, blood pressure levels were found to be highest in those with retarded fetal growth and greater weight gain between the ages of 7 and 11 years; similar results were found in India; low birth weight Indian babies have been described as having a characteristic poor muscle but high fat preservation, so-called ‘‘thin-fat’’ babies’ (WHO, 2003, 34). However, from a different point of view Daniels (2006, 52) stated that ‘evaluating the costs of overweight and obesity in childhood and adolescents is difficult because of a paucity of data; G. Wang and W. H. Dietz used hospital discharge diagnoses from 1997 through 1999 to estimate the cost of obesity-related disorders in childhood; they used the most frequent principal diagnoses where obesity was listed as a secondary diagnosis and then compared hospital diagnosis figures with those in 1979-81 for children aged six to seventeen; not surprisingly, they found increases in obesity-related diagnoses while the time spent as an inpatient was longer for children with obesity and estimated that obesity-related inpatient costs were about 1.7 percent of total annual U.S. hospital costs’. In other words, the nutrition patterns offered to children can have a variety of consequences both for the children and their family. In order for the children to be protected from potential harm to their health due to wrong nutritional preferences, it is necessary that they are given the appropriate guiding from their parents. In accordance with a report published in WNEP Quarterly (2006, 2) ‘children are born with an amazing ability to match food intake to their growing needs all by themselves; natural cues tell them when to eat and when to stop and for this reason parents should provide healthy food choices but allow children to assume control of how much they consume’. If the pressure of parents to their children regarding the nutritional preferences of the latter is too high, there is the risk for the whole effort to be led to a failure. III. Healthy eating messages in media The cost involving in the advertising that targets the children is extremely high. More specifically, it has been found that ‘total UK advertising spending per annum in the categories of food, soft drinks and chain restaurants is £743 million, with £522 million spent on television advertising and £32 million in children’s airtime’ (Ofcom 2004).On the other hand, it has been found that ‘while little appears to be known about forms of promotion other than television advertising, making it difficult to map the ways in which children are targeted by food promotions or by a promotional culture more broadly, a considerable amount of research has been conducted on television advertising’ (Livingstone, 2005, 2). The role of television in the formulation of specific behaviour has been significant regarding all aspects of human life. From a similar point of view Smitt et al. 2000, 57) refers to the views of Hastings et al. (2003) and the findings of IOM (2005) that lead to the assumption that ‘the dietary and health-related patterns of children are influenced by the interplay of many factors, including genetics and biology, culture and norms, economic status, physical and social, as well as commercial and media environments; among these factors, the media plays a central socializing role for young people and is an important channel for food and beverage promotion activity and children’s food knowledge, selection, preferences, and behaviours’. In accordance with the above findings, the efforts of authorized governmental bodies regarding the nutrition of children should focus on the introduction and application of specific criteria that could help to establish ‘positive’ nutrition preferences in children around the world – at a first place within the territory of the country involved. In UK, Health Secretary Dr John Reid published ‘the government’s White Paper on improving public health in England on Tuesday 16th November 2004 (DH 2004); the White Paper outlines actions to tackle the main public health issues of the 21st century, and has identi- fied six priorities for action; these include reducing the number of people smoking, reducing the prevalence of obesity and improving diet and nutrition, increasing levels of physical activity and improving sexual health.Children’s health, especially childhood obesity, is a major focus of the document’ (Foster et al., 2005, 70). As for the standards set by the White Paper it is noticed by Foster et al. (2005) that these can be characterized as well structured and appropriate for the achievement of the specific target. Towards this direction, it is stated in the White Paper that ‘few consumers can understand current nutrition labelling, and that consumers need to know where particular foods fit into a healthy balanced diet to enable them to make informed choices; to tackle this issue, government intends to press vigorously for progress during 2005 (during the UK presidency of the EU) to simplify nutrition labelling and make it mandatory on packaged foods’ (Foster et al., 2005, 71). On the other hand, the role of private institutions can be really significant. In this context, the ‘Food Standards Agency has developed a nutrient profiling model which in practice it is a method of categorising foods as, for example, ‘healthier’ or ‘less healthy’ on the basis of their nutrient content and making use of an agreed set of criteria; The Agencys nutrient profiling model uses the following criteria: energy, saturated fat, total sugar, sodium, protein, fibre and fruit and vegetable content of food’ (Food Standards Agency, 2007). Other measures that have been taken towards the protection of the children’s health as it is influenced by their nutrition habits are the limitation of consumption of specific type of food and the application of a set of exercises that can help the body to recover from any potential harm but also to be protected in the future. In this context, it has been suggested by the Food Standards Agency that ‘it’s important for children not to have too much salt because this could damage their health in the future. The maximum amount of salt children should be having varies according to how old they are: a) 4 to 6 years – 3g a day (1.2g sodium), b) 7 to 10 years – 5g a day (2g sodium), c) 11 years upwards – 6g a day (2.5g sodium)’ (Report by Food Standards Agency, ‘Feeding your growing child’ 2007, 6). It should be noticed that the above amounts are just indicative and in practice the acceptable levels of specific types of food are defined for each person as a separate human being and they cannot be identified in advance without a detailed examination of the circumstances involved. In the above context, the role of advertisement has been accepted to be of high importance for all participants. Especially regarding the advertisement towards children it has been stated that ‘advertisements reach children through the means of television, radio, magazines, music, mobile phones, and the Internet; children are exposed to marketing messages at a whole variety of venues, including at home, schools, childcare settings, shopping malls, sporting events, and cinemas; in the UK, 75% of children aged 9–19 years old have access to the Internet at home and more than 90% of children have access at school why food marketing aimed at children is attractive to the industry is the strong influence of children on household purchases; although parents often decide on the meals and socialize children, the children themselves are able to actively change their parents’ attitudes (Young 2003) while the purchase influence of children and adolescents increases with age (Young 2003; IOM 2005; Gallani 2006, in Smitt et al., 2007, 57). Despite the above findings, the role of media in the formulation of specific preferences regarding the nutrition seems to be sometimes doubted. More specifically, Livingstone (2005, 20) supported that ‘there is a modest body of fairly consistent evidence demonstrating the direct effect of food promotion (in the main, television advertising) on children’s food preferences, knowledge and behaviour, and that the key players on opposing sides of the policy debate tacitly, if not explicitly, agree on this; however, the indications are that this evidence explains only a small amount of the variance; hence, it is likely that other factors can be identified that have a greater direct effect’. At a next level, the above researcher presents the particular factors that can lead children to the development of specific food preferences. In this context, it is referred by Livingstone (2005, 18, Appendix I) that the most significant factors affecting children’s food choice can be the following ones: social psychological, biological, lifestyle, family, community and media. In the relevant hierarchy, media is presented as having a minor role in the development of specific food preferences in children while other factors, like biological ones, are presented to be the more significant to the above direction. Discussion Generally, it has been stated by Hoffman et al. (2003, 265) that ‘health promotion and disease prevention activities in the area of nutrition education are important to begin early in childhood because of the well-established relationships between diet and health while inadequate nutritional intake and poor dietary habits in childhood are directly related to childrens health status and ability to learn; additionally, once established in childhood, eating patterns tend to remain consistent throughout life and are associated with serious, life-threatening diseases’. For this reason, parents should offer to their children appropriate patterns regarding their food preferences while any relevant effort should begin as early as possible in order to achieve the required target. In this context, it is noticed in Mealsmatter (2007) that ‘establishing healthy habits can be very difficult for children who receive mixed messages; they wont perceive healthy eating as important if it is not something that they see their parents doing it; positive and negative comments influence childrens attitudes about foods; modeling healthy eating supports the development of healthy behaviors in children while there is no stronger message for the importance of healthy habits’. On the other hand, in accordance with the study of Livingstone (2005, 21) ‘food promotion may have greater indirect than direct effects; however, this cannot be demonstrated easily, if at all, using the experimental designs required for causal claims; for many, the pervasive nature of promotional culture is obvious, though others contest this; yet for social scientists the challenge is to produce rigorous evidence for (or against) such a claim’. In any case, it would be rather difficult to evaluate these effects with accuracy since there are several factors – as presented above – that can have a simultaneous influence on a child’s food preferences. A really innovative scheme for the promotion of healthy eating in children has been promoted by the Government Office of Yorkshire and the Humber. In the context of this scheme ‘from Kirkgate Market in Leeds to orchards in Hull and a prison in Doncaster, Yorkshire and The Humbers 5 A DAY healthy eating programmes have reached nearly 1.5 million people across the region in the last three years’. The above program is targeting to the promotion of healthy eating with a particular reference to fruit and vegetables. Moreover, for the need of the above scheme a series of more than 1,000 different ‘regional healthy eating activities held in a range of settings including play schemes, churches, libraries, youth groups, prisons and hospitals; the healthy eating message has also reached over 99 per cent regions primary schools where the School Fruit and Vegetable scheme now ensures that around 230,000 primary children receive a free piece of fruit or veg every day’(Government Office for the Yorkshire and the Humber, 2005). In accordance with a similar scheme, on 12 July of 2006 the pupils from Frenchwood County Primary School ‘had their faces painted like one of their favourite fruits as part of a new campaign called Face Fruit; the campaign, launched by the city councils environmental health service, aims to encourage children to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day and promote the benefits of eating a healthy and balanced diet’ (Preston City Council, 2006). It seems from the above examples that the role of local authorities to the development of a healthy nutrition in children had been significant. On the other hand, the participation of government – with a special reference in the UK - in the whole effort has also been quite important. In this context, Foster et al. (2005, 71) states that the British government considers ‘there is a strong case for action to restrict the advertising and promotion to children of those foods that are high in fat, salt and sugar’ while it is also noticed that ‘action needs to be comprehensive and taken in relation to all forms of food advertising and promotion, including broadcast, nonbroadcast, sponsorship and brand-sharing, point of sale advertising including vending in schools, and labels, wrappers and packaging’. The application of the above legal text in practice will be a challenging task because of the existence of several issues (like the control and the monitoring of the scheme) that need to be considered thoroughly before any relevant initiative. The development of food preferences in children is an issue that has many aspects. Primarily they are several consequences that should be taken into account. In this context, we should refer to the findings of the research made by WHO (2003, 36) which lead to the assumption that ‘there are three critical aspects of adolescence that have an impact on chronic diseases: (i) the development of risk factors during this period; (ii) the tracking of risk factors throughout life; and, in terms of prevention, (iii) the development of healthy or unhealthy habits that tend to stay throughout life, for example physical inactivity because of television viewing’. Under the above terms, the role of parents to the development of healthy food preferences in their children is crucial. However, in many cases the intervention of other factors (like biological ones, the school or the media) can be proved to have a major effect on the formulation of standard food preferences on a long term basis. Particularly for the media, although there have been several views that support their primary role in the development of specific food preferences in children of all ages there are also findings that presents media as having a secondary role in children’s food preferences. It seems that finally, it can be an issue of interpretation or personal estimation. In any case, media have a significant influence on children, however, their role cannot be specified with accuracy mostly because there are several other factors that also intervene in the formulation of children’s views on all issues regarding their life and for this reason any relevant assumption could be just a personal opinion. It should be noticed here that parents have been proved to have an equally important role on their children’s food preferences. However, their intervention can lead to positive results only when formulated in accordance with certain standards that offer to the children the chance to develop their own critical thinking. References Ambler, T. (2004) Does the UK Promotion of Food and Drink to Children Contribute to Their Obesity? (Centre for Marketing Working Paper No. 04-901). London: London Business School. Daniels, S. (2006) The Consequences of Childhood Overweight and Obesity. The Future of Children, 16(1): 47-56 Feeding your growing child (2007) Food Standards Agency, available at http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/growingchild.pdf Food Standards Agency, available at http://www.food.gov.uk/ Foster, R.K., Buttriss, J. (2005) A review of the Public Health White Paper – Choosing Health: making healthy choices easier. British Nutrition Foundation. Nutrition Bulletin, 30: 70-75 Fox, D. (2002) Short-sightedness may be tied to refined diet, available at http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn2120 Gallani B (2006) A consumer perspective on commercial communication and healthy diets (BEUC). Presentation given at the ESA Forum on Nutrition and Health, Brussels, Belgium, 30 June 2006 Gorn, G., Goldberg, M. (1982) Behavioral Evidence of the Effects of Televised Food Messages on Children. The Journal of Consumer Research, 9(2): 200-205 Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber (2005) HEALTHY EATING MESSAGE REACHES 1.5 MILLION PEOPLE ACROSS YORKSHIRE AND THE HUMBER, available at http://www.gos.gov.uk/goyh/news/newsarchive/337351/ Gregory, J. (2000) National Diet and Nutrition Survey: Young People Aged 4–18 Years, Vol. 1. London: Stationery Office Books Hastings GB, Stead M, McDermott L, Forsyth A, MacKintosh AM, Rayner M, Godfrey G, Carahar M, Angus K (2003) Review of research on the effects of food promotion to children—final report and appendices. Prepared for the Food Standards Agency (FSA), London, UK. Available online at http://www.ism.stir.ac. uk/pdf_docs/final_report_19_9.pdf Hoffman, J., Dupaul, G. (2003). School-Based Health Promotion: The Effects of a Nutrition Education Program. School Psychology Review, 32(2): 263-269 Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (IOM) (2005) Overview of the IOM report on food marketing to children and youth: threat or opportunity? Institute of Medicine, Washington, Available online at http://www.iom.edu/Object.File/Master/ 31/337/KFM%20Overview.final.2-9-06.pdf Kaiser Foundation (2004) The Role of Media in Childhood Obesity. Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Lewis, E. (2006) Children’s views on non-broadcast food and drink advertising. Report for the Office of the Children’s Commissioner. National Children’s Bureau Livingstone, S. (2005) Assessing the research base for the policy debate over the effects of food advertising to children. International Journal of Advertising, 24(3): 1-23 Mealsmatter (2007) available at http://www.mealsmatter.org/CookingForFamily/Planning/article.aspx?articleId=44 Ofcom (2004) Child Obesity – Food Advertising in Context. Children’s Food Choices, Parents’ Understanding and Influence, and the Role of Food Promotions. London: Ofcom, at www.ofcom.org.uk Preston City Council (2006) Fruity faced schoolchildren set for healthy eating message, available at http://www.preston.gov.uk/News Rainville, A., Kyunghee, C., Brown, D. (2003) Healthy School Nutrition Environment: A Nationwide Survey of School Personnel. National Food Service Management Institute, 22: 1-6 Schmitt, N., Wagner, N., Kirch, W. (2007) Consumers’ freedom of choice—advertising aimed at children, product placement, and food labelling. Journal of Public Health, 15: 57-62 WHICH? (2006) Child catchers—the tricks used to push unhealthy food to your children. WHICH? Consumers’ Association, London, UK. Available online at https://www.which.co.uk/files/ WHO (World Health Organisation) (1990) Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Deseass. Technical report 797. WHO: Geneva, available at http://www.mcspotlight.org/media/reports/who_rep.html World Health Organization (2000) Obesity: Preventing and Managing the Global Epidemic(No. 894). Geneva: WHO World Health Organization (2003) Diet, Nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases. WHO Technical Report Series, 916 WHO/FAO (2003) Global Report on Diet, Nutrition and prevention of Chronic Diseases. Technical Report 916. WHO: Geneva WNEP Quarterly (2006) available at http://www.uwex.edu/ces/cty/oconto/WNEP/documents/eathealthy.pdf Young B (2003) Does food advertising influence children’s food choices? A critical review of some of the recent literature. International Journal of Advertising, 22(4): 441–459 Appendix I A multi-level model of factors affecting children’s food choice (as in Livingstone, 2005, 18) Read More