Clay 1

Katrell Clay
Mr. Matthews
ENG 101W
11/9/16
How Different Factors of Food Choice Affect Children
Do you think you are healthy? You might think you are but the fact is most Americans
dont even know how healthy they are. Over 80 percent of Americans fail to eat the
recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables (Aubrey and Godoy). So why do people think
what they eat is healthy? Peoples food choice affects not only how people eat but the way they
react to everyday foods. This reality most crucially affects kids. They are the ones that observe
and learn from the people around them. If children are surrounded by negative food choices, then
that will affect the type of foods that they eat for the rest of their life. Kids might end up thinking
that drenching their salad in salad dressing is healthy. Families, the media, and availability of
food, affect childrens food choices in a major way.
When family members dont take care of themselves it reflects on the children. If a child
grows up around people who dont take care of their bodies than the child will look up to that
behavior. On the other hand, if a parent is too strict with their childs diet, the child will start to
rebel. Children are most vulnerable to this as they start to mature. One of the ways in which
adolescents may express independence or rebellion is through eating less healthy foods or not
eating as an act of parental defiance (Shepherd and Raats). Families need to find the right
amount of balance when it comes to controlling their kids diets. Allow them to have junk food
after they have eaten the healthy foods. Use junk food as a reward for eating right, doing chores,
following instructions, doing exercise, and other productive activities. Kids from their tween age

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(10-12) to their teenage years need influence from the food they eat in a different way. This age
group of people as they grow up stop eating breakfast. The average breakfast consumption of
breakfast has dropped from 73% among 11-year-olds to 64% among 15-year-olds (Shepherd
and Raats). In addition, instead of filling the food gap with a meal teens just replace them with
junk food. For a teens proactive lifestyle, this does not give them enough energy to carry out the
rest of the day. For example, if there are two kids who are on the football team but one eats junk
food and doesnt eat when he is supposed to, and the other eats healthy and eats all the meals of
the day, then the healthy kid will be more energized. The unhealthy kid will have less stamina
and not perform at his peak potential.
Media has a big influence on how healthy kids choose to eat. When kids see an
advertisement for McDonald's, Burger King, Twix, Kit-Kat, Coca-Cola, Sprite, etc., all they want
to do is Find some way to eat it. All they care about is the look and taste of what theyre eating.
However, commercials like these are making it harder for children to have better food choices
because they dont say the truth about their product. The fact that 98% of advertised foods are
of low nutritional value (Harris, L and Bargh) is outrageous. Instead of bribing kids and adults
about a new two for one meal, they should be advertising more healthy options available at their
local restaurants. Additionally, commercials should be a little bit more serious. The most
common patterns of commercials towards kids are the great taste, lets have fun spirit (Harris,
L and Bargh). What these companies should be trying to do is figuring out how to keep this type
of format and market foods that have health benefits because currently, the way commercials are
being made help feed the thirty-six percent of adults who are obese (Aubrey and Godoy).
The ability to afford healthy food is an important factor when youre talking about food
choice. If you cant afford organic foods than the options available to you will be very limited. It

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is easier for a parent to buy four or five snacks than to buy one or two healthy foods. One,
because the snacks are cheaper so more of them are affordable. Two, the snacks that are cheaper
to buy also last longer so they can stretch out over time. But do people actually have money to
afford organic food? Per Michael Pollen, an author who has written many books on food and
eating, and has been named one of Time Magazines top 100 influential people, claimed,
Americans spend less than 10 percent of their income on food; they also spend less than a half
hour a day preparing meals (Pollan). Since junk food is more accessible people, parents dont
put the time and effort into what they cook. What makes matters worse is that Pollen questions
the meaning of organic by saying, Is a steak from feedlot steer that consumed a diet of corn,
various industrial waste products, antibiotics, and hormones still a whole food? (Pollan). Even
when parents try and obtain organic foods for their kids to eat they take the risk of receiving food
with artificial preservatives and hormones. The food industry needs to be more truthful about
what they put in their products, not just for kids but for everyone. People need to know what they
are eating before they spend a lot of money buying into the tricks of the food industry.
The way the youth is treated now is the same way they will act when they are young
adults and ready to take on life by themselves. If they grow up eating junk food every day and
not attempting to balance out their diets with fruits or vegetables, then these actions are feeding
into the problem of being healthy in America. No parent wants their kid to be another statistic
who becomes obese just because he or she didnt eat right. Kids need to grow up with the right
influence on what to eat. Family leaders need to stay the role models they already are and set the
bar high for nutrition. Corporate America needs to try and find new and inventive ways to
commercialize healthy products instead of promoting junk food. Finally, the food industry needs
to be more honest to the people about the contents inside of their products.

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Works Cited
Aubrey, Allison and Maria Godoy. "75 Percent of Americans Say They Eat Healthy Despite
Evidence To The Contrary." NPR (2016): 1.
Harris, Jennifer L and John A. Bargh. "The Relationship between Television Viewing and
Unhealthy Eating: Implications for Children and Media Interventions.". 2009. November
2016.
Martinac, Paula. What Are Four Things That Can Affect Food Choices? 2 June 2013.
Pollan, Michael. "They Say I say." Escape From The Western Diet 2014: 5.
Shepherd, R and M Raats. Psychology of Food Choice : Volume 3 in the 'Frontiers in Nutritional
Sciences' series. CAB International, 2006.
Harris, Jennifer L., and John A. Bargh. The Relationship between Television Viewing and
Unhealthy Eating: Implications for Children and Media Interventions. Health
communication 24.7 (2009): 660673. PMC. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.