Friday, November 12, 2010

Dr. Phil and Happy Meals

Dr. Phil's take on the San Francisco Happy Meal controversy makes a lot of sense.

He believes it's the parents' responsibility to decide what food their children eat. The government is overreaching by banning toys in Happy Meals.

DR. PHIL MACGRAW: It's the parents' job to decide where they take the children and what kind of eating patterns they develop. If we turn this over to the government, what else are we going to turn over to them? This seems to me to be way overreach.

Video.


Transcript
ANDERSON COOPER: So Dr. Phil, what do you think about this? I mean, this law doesn't ban Happy Meals. It bans the toys that go with the Happy Meals if the meals don't meet certain health requirements. Does that make sense?

DR. PHIL MCGRAW, TALK SHOW HOST: Well, you know, I think it's along the same line of thinking when they banned Joe the Camel, which was considered to be a cartoon, which would appeal to children. And I think they know that kids want those toys, and so by putting the toy in there, they're enticing these children to buy these non-nutritious meals. And so they're saying, "Look, do we want to do that?"

And I agree that's not a good business practice. And I've got to say, 25 percent of Caucasian children are considered overweight, and 33 percent of African-American and Hispanic children. So this is an epidemic-level problem. Make no mistake.

I really applaud the fact that somebody's paying attention to this, but, Anderson, this is the parents' job. I mean, it's the parents' job. They're the ones that buy the food, present the food, put food in the house, take kids to buy these things. This is the parents' job. And you don't turn that over to the government.

You cannot abdicate. You can't even delegate this decision to the government. This gets back to the core level of parenting, and I think it is dangerous if we get the government involved in this way.

COOPER: You're saying it's an over reach; it's getting the government too involved in this sort of decision making which should be left up to parents.

MCGRAW: I think it is an overreach. I mean, if the government wants to be active in trying to do something about this epidemic of childhood obesity then get involved with education. Change the school lunch programs.

My God, so many of the school lunches that are delivered around the country are so high in carbohydrates and so low in protein and so high in sugar and so high in sodium, that's contributing to the obesity. What are they worried about putting a toy in a Happy Meal? They need to be focused on the things that they now fund because this is a serious problem in America.

But look. This is the parents' job. It's the parents' job to say no. It's the parents' job to say, "This is not nutritious." It's the parents' job to decide where they take the children and what kind of eating patterns they develop. If we turn this over to the government, what else are we going to turn over to them? This seems to me to be way overreach.

COOPER: But you know, there are a lot of parents who -- just to play devil's advocate here -- there are a lot of parents out there who say, "Look, we don't have a fighting chance against some of these huge companies and all the advertising dollars they pour in."

I read that the food industries spend $4.2 billion on advertising and marketing, that the average preschooler -- these are a couple of facts. The average preschooler saw 2.8 TV ads every day for fast food. Kids aged 6 to 11 saw 3.5 ads, and 15 percent of preschoolers ask to go to McDonald's every single day.

I guess there will be some parents out there who are saying, "Look, this isn't a fair fight."

MCGRAW: Well, it may not be a fair fight, because the marketing machine is huge. It is powerful.

But if we're trading numbers, let me trade this one with you. Seventy percent of overweight children are going to become overweight adults. And for every 40 pounds you're over, your likelihood of heart attack, cancer, Type Two diabetes goes through the ceiling. This is one of the battles parents need to pick.

COOPER: I was watching this documentary, "Food Inc.," which is a really fascinating look at food in the United States around the world. And it gave the example of Wal-Mart, which was pressured by customers to start offering healthier choices in some of their outlets, you know, healthier yogurt and stuff like that. And they actually did, and that's been a huge deal for -- you know, when Wal- Mart chooses to do something, it's got a huge impact on the marketplace. And that was based on consumers demanding something.

MCGRAW: We've got the real power here. And believe me, this turf war is fought at the local level. You get moms and dads talking to those managers and saying, "We're going to drive right down the street, and we're going to go somewhere else. We're simply not going to come here." Then that franchise will start doing something different.

Don't ever think we don't have the power of the dollar. Because where we go and where we choose to spend it, particularly during these tough economic times, is something they pay attention to. And the reason they're selling us what they're selling us is because that's what we've showed the willingness to buy.

COOPER: Yes. That's true. I must say I've switched to buying salads at McDonald's, although it's hard passing up on those Big Macs, but I force myself to do it.

MCGRAW: It really is. They look and smell good, and once in a while they're OK, seriously. But you just -- you have to understand these kids, they get -- they get so focused on this, and your eating habits are learned. People aren't born with a palate for this. They learn it across time. If it's learned it can be unlearned and relearned. So parents, don't give up the fight.

In short, parents aren't helpless.

They should grow a spine. McDonald's doesn't control what their children eat.

Parents should start parenting and government should get out of McDonald's business.

No comments: