Developing Understanding
10. Who influences our choice of food?		 Back

 

 

Teacher's notes

Every year, the food industry spends millions of pounds persuading children to eat foods high in fat and/or sugar and/or salt. Sustain's research, published in 'TV Dinners', shows that out of 272 food advertisements shown on children's TV, 95-99% contain high levels of fat, and/or sugar, and/or salt.

These are some methods the food industry use to persuade children and parents to buy their foods;

  • Add sugar. Children like sugar and ask their parents to buy sweet foods.
  • Suggest that the product contains vitamins that a child needs to eat every day.
  • Suggest that it's made of 'real fruit'. People know that fruit is good for them so they'll
    buy the product, even though the real fruit might be the fruit flavour and sugars.
  • Encourage children to play with their food. Dippers, spreaders and tubes to squeeze, for example, are very popular.
  • Say that it fits nicely into a packed lunch box.
  • Sell it as a ready-made meal, ideal for busy parents.
  • Offer free gifts or membership to a club.
  • Ask the children to collect tokens for free gifts or to buy books and equipment for schools.
  • Use role-models to promote the food.

See the ‘Guide to Children’s Food’ poster and ‘The Food Magazine’, Issue 53, pp 11-3 produced by the Food Commission (tel: 020 7837 2250) for examples of foods that use these methods.

  

PSHE: 1a, 2a, 2h,
2k and 5g

You will need:
A selection of children's foods, for example ready meals, bags of confectionery, cereals aimed at children, soft drinks and fizzy drinks.
‘Guide to Children’s Food’ poster by the Food Commission (provided with this pack or tel: 020 7837 2250)

Give the children a selection of children's foods and ask them to identify how they have been made to look appealing to children and to parents.

 

Taking The Message Home

Ask the children to collect food labels from home and record information about the nutritional content of the products. Are the products healthy?

Ask them to identify techniques used by food manufacturers to make the food appealing to children.

  

Discuss ways in which fruit and vegetables (fresh, canned, frozen, juiced and dried) could be advertised and packaged to be made appealing to both children and parents.

English, Activity 10: Children’s food. This provides a comprehension activity based on the Food Commission’s ‘Guide to Children's Food’ poster.

 
 


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