Analyzing Commercials: a Checklist for Kids

Food and Nutrition

• The next time that your child gleefully asks for the newest sugar-coated cereal or a popular super-salty snack, ask him where he got the idea to eat such a calorie catastrophe. Chances are the answer will be "On TV." With a barrage of ads that feature happy, healthy kids devouring sweet treats, chips and other not-so-healthy foods, it's no wonder that commercials effect the way many children approach nutrition. According to the AAP, advertisers spend $2 billion a year promoting food products, with healthy food ads appearing only 3 percent of the time. When one of the many unhealthy food commercials pops up on the tube, talk to your child about it. Ask what he thinks the advertiser wants him to feel. Ask if he thinks the food is really that good. Fill in the facts as needed and make a comparison to a healthier food such as bananas or broccoli.

Tobacco Products

• While tobacco products cannot be overtly advertised on television, TV programs and movies that show characters puffing on cigarettes, as well as magazine and internet ads send the message to your child that smoking is cool. The AAP, on their Healthy Children website, notes that tobacco product commercials often use an idealized picture of smokers who are healthy, attractive and successful to trick viewers into thinking that their products are desirable. Help your child to better understand the true negative consequences of using tobacco products. Make a distinction between the reality of smoking and the fantasy ad version, by having conversations with him about these commercials. Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that parents provide their kids with the facts of tobacco use. This can help your child to see that smoking is certainly not glamorous.

Alcohol Products

• The sparklingly gorgeous blond who is downing a beer after water skiing with her equally as pretty and perfect friends sends a distinct message to your child about alcohol: Drinking will make her attractive, popular and perhaps even slightly sporty. Kids and young adults view an average of 2,000 wine and beer commercials each year, according to the AAP. These ads can put even young kids at risk for believing that drinking alcohol is an acceptable activity for children and teens. Instead of ignoring these commercials, analyze them with your child. Give your child the facts about alcohol -- such as it impairs judgement, leads to poor decisions and can have health consequences -- and then ask her if she feels that these are reflected in the ads.

Appearance and Beauty

• Although you certainly don't want to see your child's weight increase because he stuffs himself with sugary treats, you also don't want him to subscribe to an idealized view of the body that ads might propagate. Before your child begins to think that the actors and models on TV and in ads are normal when it comes to body type, help him to understand they are unrealistic portrayals of appearance and often digitally altered to remove flaws. Additionally, keep in mind that the influences of appearance, body type and beauty ads don't only affect girls. According to Common Sense Media, while commercials aren't influencing boys to diet -- like the rail-thin female models that young girls look up to -- they may make them want to add more muscle mass than is natural for his age. Talk to your kids to help them understand that these media images aren't always something that healthy and normal children or teens can attain. Analyze model body types in comparison to typical kids, looking for the similarities and differences.