Health Needs a Hero!

By: Dr. Linda Carson

When I was growing up, a sailor with big arms and a gruff voice had an influential message about getting strong by eating spinach. Popeye was so influential that he increased the sale of spinach by 33% in the 1950’s. I understand that there is an effort under way right now to bring him back for a new generation of children, but this time without his habit of smoking a pipe! A new Popeye and other children's characters with health messages are desperately needed in our country and around the world.

Currently, American children see an estimated $1.6 billion a year worth of food and beverage marketing, and many of those ads are foods that are high in calories and sugar, but low in nutrition. Some of our cereals and other processed foods in a box are so depleted that they have to be “fortified” and even then, the nutritional value is extremely compromised. For some products, there is not much nutritional difference between the contents in the box and the cardboard the box is made from.

Until food and beverage companies are using children’s characters to market only healthy products, it is up to each family and the other significant influencers to share and repeat consistent health messaging with children and families. The research (samples noted below) confirms that children’s characters are profoundly influential, whether positive or negative.

And a very positive thing that the family and/or preschool teacher can do is take advantage of what we know from research---create or introduce a familiar character to help deliver messages about healthy nutrition, physical activities that help make your body healthy, and appropriate dental health behaviors. Plus, having a character as an influential “assistant” helps with the consistency factor that we humans have trouble with at times.

I have spent my career promoting healthy choices, and advocating for parents as the best play partners ever. After teaching in public school enough years to appreciate the needs and barriers of that context, I spent the next 30 years teaching University students who wanted to be teachers. While methods of delivering the content has changed over the years, one thing has remained constant---the need is great for dedicated, well prepared teachers who collaborate and engage with parents on the profoundly important task of getting young children ready to make responsible decisions about learning and life.

In recent years I have had the privilege of developing resources for parents and teachers who are laying the foundation for healthy decision-making by children and entire families. Long before Popeye was given a do-over, we introduced CHOOSY as a health hero for this generation of young children. Choosy’s name stands for Choose Healthy Options Often and Start Young.

If you want to use Choosy as a health hero in your home or classroom, see www.choosykids.com for examples of unique, easy to use resources, especially children’s music that contains health messages. There is such a thing as stuck song syndrome that can work like reminders. If children (and adults) can’t get that song out of their heads, health messaging is working!

Bottom line: If a character promotes it, whether in a story book, on a window cling, or in music, a young child is likely to be influenced by the character’s preferences! What a concept and what a big help to busy Mom’s and Dad's.

**Research examples supporting the influence of children’s characters on health 

  choices and preferences:

Kotler, et al Journal of Health Communication (2012); 

Roberto, et al Pediatrics (2010); 

Lanigan, J.D. Child: Care, Health and Development (2010) 

About the Author: Linda Carson, Ed. D, is the founder and CEO of Choosy Kids, LLC, and the Ware Distinguished Professor Emerita at West Virginia University. An award winning, nationally recognized expert, Dr. Carson has devoted her career to promoting healthy preferences for young children and the adults who make decisions on their behalf. Click here to learn more about Linda.

The Powers of a Purple Cape: The Choosy Story

By: Christine Cox, The Choosy Mommy

Super heroes come in all shapes, sizes, colors, genders, so on and so forth. They have different sources of power and types of weapons. And for many of our heroes, a cape is part of their costume, and they too come in a wide array of colors and designs.

Did you ever think about the powers of a super hero’s cape? Some capes help heroes fly and others shield them from villains. But the cape that I specifically want to tell you about is worn by a super hero who is green and has antennae and fur! You may have never heard of this super hero before, but believe me when I say that this super hero’s powers help us all, especially when it comes to health, brushing your teeth and eating fruits and veggies!

Choosy is our super hero’s name and Choosy means Choose Healthy Options Often and Start Young. It is really up to you to decide if Choosy is a boy or a girl, or really what “life form” Choosy is. When interviewing children, we have learned that sometimes Choosy is referred to as a bug or an alien. Some children think Choosy is probably a boy because of the red backwards hat upon its head and others (usually little girls) think Choosy is a girl because of the purple hair. Regardless, what we do know is that Choosy harnesses a special power – the purple cape.

Choosy’s cape symbolizes empowerment. The power of making healthy choices even though unhealthy options are available everywhere. When children make healthy decisions about physical activity, nutrition, and dental habits, they are overcoming massive media marketing and sometimes even family preferences. Choosy is a messenger and a motivator and the cape empowers young children to be champions of choice ---- the healthy choice.

Choosy is a health hero. Do you know of other health heroes? Not since Popeye has there been a health-hero for children. Research has demonstrated that children’s characters are profoundly influential – like the super heroes you were thinking of earlier! Choosy can help promote healthy habits in your family, agency, classroom, clinic or community, which is really a super power! Choosy’s uniqueness includes health messages and reminders embedded in lively music. When used consistently, health messages paired with the image of Choosy can become familiar and favored.

Choosy is my toddler’s super hero. She always points out what Choosy would say if we made an unhealthy choice or is positive in stating that Choosy would be happy that we are brushing our teeth. Day care, pre-school and even kindergarten teachers love to use Choosy in their classroom, and physicians and dentists love to show off how strong Choosy’s muscles and teeth are in the office.

Super heroes are around us everywhere. What we need to remember is that it doesn’t matter what they look like but rather what their super powers harness.

Check out more about Choosy on our Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest and view videos of Choosy dancing on our YouTube page!

About the Author: Christine Cox is the blog master and The Choosy Mommy for Choosy Kids. She has always had a passion for writing and is honored to contribute her work to this blog. Most of her writing inspiration comes from her daughter, Capri, who is fun-loving and full of energy, and newborn son Cam. Click here to learn more about Christine.