To Melissa G., the Recessionary Grocery Shopper: The Official Kid-Will-Eat-It Guidelines

Oct 1, 2009 by Anna Migeon

Dear Melissa G.,

Congratulations! You have been named “ground zero for the new austerity” by one of our food industry giants, according to an article I just read in Advertising Age.  Industrial edibles manufacturers, scrambling to keep their profits up while consumers like you look for ways to spend less, are taking a hard look at you, the average grocery shopper, and how you think and behave.  Melissa, you represent today’s Every Mom:  the very picture of the grocery-shopping parent. You are the bull’s eye of the target for processed food manufacturers in this economic downturn.

It’s quite an honor, and a responsibility, a sacred destiny even, Every Mom. The wellbeing of the American child is in your hands.

While Campbell Soup was analyzing your habits and attitudes…

It’s National Turn Off the TV Week: Do It For Healthy Eating’s Sake

Apr 23, 2009 by Anna Migeon

Turning off the TV, not just this week but every week, is one of the best moves parents can make if they hope to get their children in the habit of healthy eating. For a child who watches more than an infinitesimal amount of TV, efforts to build healthy eating habits may well be futile.

Of course we all know, whether we act on that knowledge or not, that the more we sit in front of the TV, the higher our risk of being overweight.

But the problem is not simply that we are physically inactive as we sit there, when we could be playing outdoors. Passive TV viewing, instead of working up our healthy appetite through activity, also gives us an unhealthy urge to…