When my daughter was about three years old, we were at a store and there was a section of Chanel clothing. My little toddler was excited when seeing the iconic double CCs, pointed her cute little finger and screaming out, “Look! It’s Chanel!” An older woman was nearby and she was aghast that my daughter, at such a young age, could ID the logo so quickly. She muttered something to her shopping companion in a loud enough voice to apparently shame me (in some way ) because my daughter knew what Chanel was. But she had a good reason, since Chanel happens to be her last name. This was the first time I realized that she was clued into the logo culture. Were Burger King, WalMart and Target next? They are incredibly hard to avoid until you live on a farm and never leave. She sees logos on TV, in stores, on stores, in the magazines we use for collages and on billboards. Would this exposure not just change her desire but would it also make her fat?
In a new study by researchers at the University of Missouri in Kansas City and the University of Kansas Medical Center, they looked at MRIs of children’s brains when looking at corporate logos. Where is gets worrisome is that the pleasure centers of kid’s brains become lit up when seeing logos from such companies as McDonalds.
“The brains of children are ‘imprinted’ with food logos,” Dr. Amanda Bruce, who lead the study, said. “Without the necessary inhibitory processes to aid in decision-making, youths are particularly susceptible to making poor choices about what to eat.”
As the Los Angeles Times said, “And there’s your bottom line: The marketing of junk food plays a significant role in the obesity epidemic.”
Bruce added, “That is concerning, because the majority of foods marketed to children are unhealthy, calorifically dense foods high in sugars, fat and sodium.” Think about pretty much every food ad you see on TV or on a billboard. Our kids are being bombarded with these logos and it’s having a negative affect on their health.
Do you find your children react to corporate logos?
Photos Source: A Professional Files