Is it responsible to use cartoon characters to target advertisement of unhealthy foods at children?

We’re all very familiar with the likes of the Milky Bar Kid and Tony the Tiger, the characters who have been promoting some of the most popular chocolate and cereal products for years. Recently, these guys have had some pretty bad press.

It is well established that marketing has a huge influence on food choice. Evidence shows that children are particularly vulnerable to marketing strategies as they ‘lack an adult’s understanding of advertising intent.’ Additionally, children have […]

Children’s physical activity is having somewhat of a revival in the national consciousness. Once the preserve of vaguely depressing P.E. lessons and old gym equipment, we increasingly understand how important, fun and vital movement is for optimal health. But are our children exercising enough, how much do they actually need and what truly counts as “exercise”? And most importantly, how can we help our children to move more and sit less?

Current data shows that only 21% of boys and 16% of girls aged 5 to 15 meet activity recommendations; along with only 1 in ten children aged 2 […]

We are becoming increasingly dependent on electronic devices for virtually everything: televisions, laptops, computers, tablets and mobile phones. We have got to a point in time where our baby monitor is connected to our smartphones and our home lights and thermostats can be controlled with a few taps on our tablets (the list goes on). In short, we have made smart devices indispensable in our daily life. And naturally, this trend is catching up to our kids too. Whether they are watching cartoons on TV, surfing the web on their tablets or smartphones or playing games on their PlayStation, […]