We’ve seen a lot in the news lately about the Santa Cruz (CA) County Board of Supervisors, and their proposal to ban McDonalds from placing toys in Happy Meals. The premise behind this to make the meals less appealing by not offering a toy as a reward for eating junk food, thereby having the children and visitors of Santa Cruz County to be a little bit healthier by not “wanting” the fast food that comes with a toy.
There is a lot of passion on both sides of this argument. On one hand, there is the growing debate about childhood obesity, and what it leads to later in life. On the other hand, you have government interfering, for lack of a better term, in the rights of a public company, and what they are or are not permitted to sell. Finally, you have the angle that parents could exhibit a little more restraint and responsibility for what their children eat.
I have my own opinions on this issue, but my goal is not to create an editorial blog on the left or the right, but rather to introduce an idea that came to me just the other day. I think there is no secret that the toy is the secret to the Happy Meal (or Kids Club Meal, or Kids Meal, or Junior Fun Pack, or whatever the individual companies wish to name their product. I am going to stick with Happy Meal, because that is what is in the news, and they were, I believe, the original.) If the toy were not the secret, why do all of the companies cross market, and change toys every few weeks. Collect Them All! Get The New Dudes Of Steel Action Figures! Make Sure Your Little Girls Get All Of The Pony Princess Dolls. At a certain age, the toy is the secret. Now, most of our fast food outlets have made somewhat noble efforts at offering some healthier alternatives, such as the Garden Salad and the Grilled Chicken Breast Sandwich. Some even offer apple slices as an alternative to french fries. Granted, they come with caramel sauce to dip them in, but I, for one, conveniently “misplace” that when removing items from the bag.
What if somebody offered a Healthy Meal. We can call it whatever, a Healthy Happy Meal, a Power Kids Meal, whatever. It’s healthier because it comes on a wheat bun. It’s healthier because it’s not fried. It’s healthier because it comes with apples or oranges (without sugar sauce to dip it in). It comes with a bottle of water, not a soda. It doesn’t come with mayonnaise. It doesn’t come with pasteurized processed cheese-food. It is, by design, healthier. Maybe it costs $1 more than your standard Happy Meal.
Why on Earth would your kid choose the Healthy Meal instead of the Happy Meal? here’s the kicker: It comes with a MUCH cooler toy. It comes with the bigger Lego racer. It come with the Prettier Pony Princess. It comes with the extra rare Yu-Gi-Oh cards. It comes with an incentive for the kids to order that. There are no substitutions. Except salad. Salad is always acceptable.
My kids have no qualms about eating their vegetables. Sure, they’d rather have fries. So would I. However, I think there might be a discipline issue among parents, sometimes. I even heard one caller on the Santa Cruz issue say that it’s just one more thing they have to say “no” to their kids for, and they really don’t need that stressful argument on top of everything else. Again, I have my own opinions on these things, but let’s try to take that out of the equation. Let’s begin offering kids incentives to make healthier choices. If they don’t want the cooler toy, then we end up back at square one. However, I know several kids, two of which belong to me, that would have no issue whatsoever opting for baby carrots instead of fries if it meant they got the gold hot wheels car with the doors that open, rather than 1 of 3 ‘standard’ cars. It may also teach them further life lessons that they can’t in fact, have everything, and that life is about choices. A bit heavy for a five year old? Sure. But they don’t have to know that yet.
