Let’s Ask Marion: Who’s Fit to Lead Our Kids?

(With a click of her mouse, EatingLiberally’s kat corners Dr. Marion Nestle, NYU professor of nutrition and author of Food Politics and What to Eat:)

Kat: The War on Christmas is really getting personal—now, as you noted on your blog, Santa himself is under siege. It’s bad enough that Santas in Australia have been advised not to say “ho, ho, ho" on the grounds that it’s offensive to women, but now we’ve got our own acting U.S. surgeon general, Steven K. Galson, saying that a thinner Santa would be a better role model for our kids.

Santa’s just the latest icon ordered to undergo a makeover; the Cookie Monster’s had to cut way back on his intake of baked goodies; Ronald McDonald’s dropped a clown suit size or two; Mr. Potato Head is now “healthy” Mr. Potato Head, decked out in running shoes and clutching a water bottle (hope it isn’t leaching bisphenol A!)

Are these calorie-counting characters just more silly corporate spin, or are kids really influenced by this stuff? Why aren’t we looking to real-life role models to inspire healthier habits in our kids?

Dr. Nestle: Ah Kerry. You do ask the toughest questions. And this is a tough one: what will it take to encourage kids to eat healthfully. Somehow, I doubt it's going to be an exercising Mr. Potato Head or skinny Santa.

I often show a slide of the svelte Ronald McDonald in my talks and it always gets a laugh. Everybody knows an oxymoron when they see one. Here's the problem: companies have to sell more food to make money. Its corollary: eating less is very bad for business. Well, here's what we know about why kids eat the way they do. For starters, advertising and marketing work. The marketing-to-kids enterprise has one main goal: to make kids think they know more about what they are supposed to eat than their parents do.

And the "supposed to eat" means foods in packages, with cartoons on the labels, heavily processed, sweet and salty, and in funny shapes and colors. And food companies back this goal with $15 billion or so a year in marketing.

So what is the antidote? Teach kids how to cook! Teach them where food comes from and what it tastes like. Encourage them to explore the food world. And while we are at it, how about doing some things to change the food environment to make it easier for parents to make healthier choices for their kids? Let's do some policy changes: restrictions on marketing to kids, vending machines and competitive foods out of schools, and lots of safe places to play. And a few celebrities leading the way might help. Volunteers, anyone?