How are we? As I shared on the Facebook page last week - I went for a job annnnnd didn't get it! BUGGER! My feedback was the same as the previous interview - we loved your energy and enthusiasm but in this instance, we had a more qualified applicant (5+ years). Ack, much graduate, so hard.
But, on we press! This little train that could is powering through the stations 'disheartening-ness' and 'fear of failure' and pressing on through to the stations 'success' and 'joyousness'. What helps this is that I have been awarded with the Penfold Prize for Public Health at La Trobe University for having the highest average mark for 3 Public Health units - see, I told you this girl loves Public Health!
So, for this weeks consideration, and sort of following on from last weeks post, is what place do big corporations have in our children's food and physical activity industries? (Note: I don't have a kid, just an awesome fiance and cat).
What I mean by this is two different things: First, food companies that are typically unhealthy - sponsoring kids sport, such as the McDonalds sponsorship of the Hooptime kids basketball competition, and formally of Auskick. This week I'm going to leave a lot of thinking up to you, internet, but here are some starters... what sort of message does it send to kids to associate physical activity with energy dense nutrient poor foods. Or where would these sporting organisations be without the huge corporate sponsorship they currently receive; would they disappear and would this lead to obesity as well, as there isn't enough money to run the programs?
Worth thinking about.
This is the other thing to think about. What about children's character 'endorsement' of certain foods? Characters like Mickey, Hoot, Peppa, Minions etc have a lot of influence in the lives of their key demographic. So why are the organisations behind the corporate endorsement of foods choosing foods that aren't particularly healthy? My assessment of this today in one supermarket: Minions are currently appearing on Tic Tacs, Cupcake mixes and Banana flavoured biscuits, none of which children need any help in consuming - why aren't they sponsoring actual bananas (prepacked), or healthy breakfast cereals (Oats or Wheetbix!) As an example here are more of the products Minions currently appear on.... not a lot of food kids should be encouraged to eat!
As this post is designed for you to think about, all I really want is for people to be aware of how this is all affecting our food and exercise and to think critically about it! Are these things you have noticed too? Should we be looking at who is supporting kids food and sporting competitions? Or is that just the way it is?
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