Due to the strong correlation that is present between advertising and childhood obesity there are a number of solutions that can be employed to potentially alleviate this growing problem.
- Many children attend the grocery store with their parents while they are growing up. Strong front-of-store produce displays in grocery stores ensure that fresh fruits and vegetables are the first thing that the customers see.
2. In school cafeterias and lunch rooms, removing sugary drink options such as chocolate milk from the reach of the students, making it less convenient to take is another option as a student would have a smaller chance of being exposed to the sugary milk on a repetitive basis.
3. In school cafeterias, offering pre-packaged salads and nice bowls of fruit to attract attention to the colorful array of products could increase the likelihood that a child would want to engage in consuming it.
4. In venues such as amusement parks, offering healthier alternatives to popcorn and fries could aid in giving families and children better and more nutritionally satisfying options. Further, there are usually mascot like characters that roam around the park selling products such as cotton candy. Working alongside the theme park administration and management, initiating a program where these esteemed characters would hold and sell healthier options is another alternative.
5. In the homes of families, where large bowls are oftentimes filled with easy to snack on items such as bread and chips, more time-consuming to eat options such as peanuts could be a good alternative. When snacking, people are often distracted and not focused on when they feel satiated by the food they are eating. By increasing both the focus that is necessary to eat the food at hand, people would likely be more aware of when they feel full in turn causing them to eat less.
6. In places such as the check out line in numerous locations, there is usually a vast array of candy and unhealthy snacks lining the counter. A potential alternative to this is offering fruit or healthy snacks, giving the consumer the option to purchase which item they desire, since right now the choice of buying a healthier item does not exist in many locations across the country.