Unhealthy Toys For Children Might Contribute To Harmful Habits Later In Life

I went shopping for new toys for my 2 year old granddaughters the other day and was absolutely dumbfounded by the collection of unhealthy baby toys readily available for our children. I was so appalled 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 article.

It's bad enough that we adults are bombarded on a daily basis with sneaky marketing approaches meant to brainwash and instigate hyper-consumerist tendencies, but some of the ploys meant to hook youngsters through their toys is just plain wrong! We as adults can at the very least spot the rouse. We may still partake, but we have the judgment making skills and (for the most part) the aptitude to decipher when we are being catered to for our betterment or our detriment. Our infants simply don't have that experience; which is why it is up to us to cut out the damaging baby toys.

One flagrant violator was the McDonald's McKids toy line. Inside the french fry and burger casings, 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 honest, they would not sell these toys if people didn't buy them; but we have to comprehend that this is how our kids recognize the logo and associate the golden arches with entertainment at a very young age. This sort of brand recognition marketing will maintain the obesity rate at a steady incline until we as role models take matters into our own hands and start to say 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 store is destined for cavities and diabetes... and that's the most positive scenario.

Like I said, I can't blame these billion dollar businesses for doing what they do best. 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. Building unhealthy habits in our children only helps their future bottom line.

It is up to us to inform our children so that these marketing firms that are successfully initiating brand recognition at such an early age do not continue to feed the unhealthy baby habits that feed into the childhood obesity epidemic through unhealthy toys for our children and babies. They will continue to fabricate and market these toys to our children, but we need to consider that the power 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 adolescents be influenced by people who don't care about them or their well-being. Allow them to be yet another unhealthy statistics in a growing unhealthy society. Or we can do what is right rather than what is easy. We can value our kids by valuing what we buy for them. We can keep our integrity by giving our children 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 children with.

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