I Remain Wary of Parenting Campaigns

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I Remain Wary of Parenting Campaigns

Posted July 14, 2009

I've watched a few parenting campaigns unfold in my lifetime. The SIDS campaign ("Back to Sleep"), the breast-feeding campaign, the sunscreen campaign, the publicity around infant toilet training, toilet training in one day (Dr. Phil) and life-saving swim lessons for 6 month olds, to name a few. While I respect some of the research and some of the intentions behind each campaign, I get nervous when I see one coming.

My kids were little when the sunscreen campaign was born. I'm not sure to this day what/who was behind it but I'm sure sunscreen companies got rich and have stayed rich every since. Basically it makes sense to protect a child's skin from sunburn, of course. But that simple message got picked up and carried away by marketers and soon everybody jumped on the bandwagon.

It turns out, however, that as a result of the fanatic effort to protect children from the sun, we ended up "protecting" them from much-needed vitamin D. New research is leaning toward unexpected conclusions about vitamin D deficiency in children, particularly those living in northern climates like Canada. It is possible that childhood asthma rates, some types of cancer (not skin) and diseases such as MS are linked to vitamin D deficiency, since rates of each have risen alarmingly and mysteriously in our children since the start of the campaign to prevent skin cancer.

Looking back, parents should have been informed of the need for modest sun-protection without the expensive, scary, advertising-driven campaign designed to get all of us, sheep-like, onto the sunscreen train. Regarding the other campaigns I mentioned above, parents need to be informed of the benefits of breast milk without making mothers afraid or guilty if they choose to feed their baby formula. Parents need to be made aware of the safest sleeping position for a baby and the dangers of cigarette smoke - without making a parent feel she has to lie awake all night to be sure her baby is still breathing.

I wonder how this should be done. Can we keep ourselves informed without making ourselves scared? And what should a parent's response be when a new, million dollar campaign hits the streets? If we become cynical or dismissive of new research, we won't be serving our children well. But we do need to question, read more and discuss these campaigns with a doctor you trust to gain a realistic perspective.

p.s. Here are two articles which may be of interest to you:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/702423?src=emailthis

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4001172/

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(5) comments

Filed under: News from Kitty, Interesting Parenting Matters

Comments

This article completely caught my attention because it really points out how much information out there actually scares parents, makes them hypervigilant and expect too much of their young children. I find that if you base your actions on fears and high expectations, you will be dissapointed. It’s really important to find that middle ground and we are learning every day with our 7 month old. We want to protect him, but we also want him to be independant, confident and have a relaxed, easy paced childhood. We try not to “bubble wrap” him!! and yes, we did get our 15 minutes of unprotected sun exposure this morning

By Leanne on July 15, 2009

Thanks for writing in and giving your grounded perspective.

By Kitty on July 16, 2009

Thank you for being brave enough to question these. New moms are “told” to breastfeed exclusively, have babies sleep on their back and never to co-sleep with their babies in their bed and so I swore, like a good little mommy, to never do any of these things, heaven forbid should I endanger my little one. 3 months later I have done all of the above, out of necessity and for sanity and our baby is none the worse for it. But you should see the horrified looks on my friends’ faces when I tell them this…I just think “wait until you have babies”...

By Jennifer on July 17, 2009

Thank you for another great article. Where else could anyone get that kind of information in such a perfect way of presentation. As a rule I download everything I need by torrent search engine but I’m really glad to find your site for a change.

By Helen on November 23, 2009

I’m very happy to read your comment and I hope you visit often and continue to find what you are looking for.

Raymond Parenting

Blog » I Remain Wary of Parenting Campaigns