Unhealthy Toys For Infants May Contribute To Unhealthy Habits Later In Life

I was looking for new toys for my 2 year old granddaughters the other day and was totally appalled by the assortment of unhealthy baby toys readily available for our children. I was so nauseated 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 comments at the end of the column.

It's bad enough that we adults are bombarded on a regular basis with underhanded advertising tactics meant to brainwash and instigate hyper-consumerist tendencies, but so many of the ploys meant to hook babies through their toys is just plain wrong! We as adults can at the very least spot the rouse. We might still bite, but at the very least we have the decision making skills and (for the most part) the mind to decipher when we are being catered to for our betterment or our disadvantage. Our infants simply don't have that facility; which is why it is up to us to cut out the unhealthy toddler toys.

One egregious example was the McDonald's McKids toy line. Within the french fry and burger boxes, the backpack, and the kitchen setup were several dozen mini milkshakes, burgers, fries, and cookies. I cannot blame the McDonald's corporation for attempting to make a profit and let's be truthful, they wouldn't sell these toys if someone didn't buy them; but we have to realize that this is how our adolescents recognize the brand and associate the golden arches with enjoyment at a very young age. This variety of brand recognition marketing will keep the obesity rate at a steady increase until we as role models stand up and take the issue into our own hands and start saying no to unhealthy 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 before they even see the inside of the shop is destined for cavities and diabetes... and that's the best case scenario.

Like I said, I shouldn't blame these billion dollar corporations 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 only helps 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 to encourage 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 keep in mind that the strength is always in our hands to say NO!

We can stop purchasing these unhealthy toys for our babies and help our kids form healthy 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 yet another unhealthy statistics in an increasingly unhealthy society. Or we can do what is correct instead of what is easy. We can value our children by valuing our purchases for them. We can keep our integrity by giving our kids a fighting chance against the illness and dysfunction both instigated and ignored by the fast food industry. Either way, it all begins by what we choose to surround our kids with.

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