In yet another of those creative ideas that seemed like a brilliant idea at the time, a new Scottish campaign with a healthy eating message aimed at kids has been branded “appalling and “terribly informed”.
The ad, by Food Standards Scotland, shows a mother feeding her child a chocolate bar while the kid regales all the health issues she will have latter in life for eating junk in her youth.
Check the ad out here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNrk6QzGAZI
In one instance the child says by eating chocolate now she’ll grow up and “more likely get diabetes”.
However, the ad’s enraged type one diabetics in the UK who believe the ad shames and embarrasses people with the disease, and that type one diabetes has nothing to do with diet anyway as it’s an inherited condition.
It’s been reported in the media that Food Standards Scotland has been asked to correct the message by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
Parents of diabetic children have vented their anger on Food Standards Scotland’s Facebook page. One mother wrote:”It beggars belief it was even made. To lump all those conditions together was bad enough but to see a child my daughter’s age saying those things was highly offensive and heartbreaking.”
While another parent wrote:”My type one diabetic ten year-old son DID NOT get diabetes from eating chocolate.”
A spokesperson for Diabetes UK said in a statement: “Thousands of adults and children across Scotland are living with type one diabetes, an autoimmune condition which is not currently preventable and is not caused by being overweight or eating too many sweets.
“People with all types of diabetes have to live with a misinformed stigma surrounding their condition and its cause, which can be upsetting and frustrating. Diabetes is a serious and complex condition and it’s important to be specific, particularly about type of diabetes, when we discuss it.”
