I almost didn’t do this video.
I honestly thought it would be too wacky and out of the box for some readers to handle.
My change of heart occurred when one of my children said, “Mom, you HAVE to do that video”.
Out of the mouths of babes.
So here I am posting a video about the best trick I know for teaching your kids about the dangers of fast food and hopefully keeping them far far away from it forever – even once they are out of the house and making their own decisions.
While this trick won’t work for older children, if your kids are still quite young, it should work well.  My three kids want absolutely nothing to do with fast food and that includes my teenager who has more freedom away from his parents and has the opportunity to indulge if he chose to.
So here it is.   What do you think? Too wacky or totally on target?
Mom Versus Fast Food (Mom Wins)
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
I don’t think it was surprising or over the top. I actually think it was putting too much emphasis on junk food. If you never go there and it’s just not part of your normal life then your children will naturally follow. At some point they’ll go with friends or try it in their own and hopefully by that time they’ll know what real delicious food tastes like and will choose it over that.
I think just talking to a slightly older child would work as well – without wasting money at a place like McDonald’s. My older two kids are 6 and 5, and they talk about food being healthy and asking if what they eat is good for them. If you practice healthy eating habits at home and never eat at those places anyway, there might not need to be any reason for such a dramatic example.
I was just talking to my 20y.o. today about fastfood (indoctinated since birth on how nasty it is and on his own now) He says when he does go to Taco bell or Wendy’s he ALWAYS feels bad afterwards…And burping that stuff up. Yuck. Our talk today hopefully reinstilled my earlier teachings. lol
I grew up in a home that taught me this way. We were not allowed any junk foods or lollies and I was taught it was bad for me. Fast forward 30 years and I am now dealing with the consequences of an eating disorder due to the fear that resulted from being taught this way. Food should be neutral. Model healthy eating but don’t teach fear of food – whether it’s sugar or maccas or pastuerised milk. Food is only one aspect of aiming for good health. The amount of stress that trying to eat perfectly has caused me is far more damaging to my health than the occassional maccas meal would have been.
I LOVED It! Not over the top! Over the top would be giving your kid that CRAP! 😉
I think it’s funny. I just have to tell the 4 year old it has wheat, and he doesn’t fuss. We also call the toys CCC (cheap Chinese C**p). Nobody is interested anymore. It took us about 4 months of being paleo to get there.
Clever! We are going on 7 years without fast food and I just consistently explained the health dangers of fast food when we would drive by the restaurants; my children got it well just by doing it like that. But I think this is a good approach that would be effective for people too! And like you said–a small price to pay for the benefits:-)
My kids know that the food there is not fit for consumption and I never had to buy the stuff and physically throw it in the trash. Since you asked, no, I don’t care for your method. The money you wasted could have been used for a better cause, is my opinion.
Mom’s know their kids. I think this approach is great for some familys and other families will need to do something diff
BRAVO