Gone are the days of little trinkets and toys in Happy Meals. Yes, that’s right: McDonald’s has replaced Happy Meal toys with “Step-it” activity trackers. It seems that the corporate machine is at a severe disconnect with what health and wellness actually mean. Handing out fitness trackers to children raises many concerns, for tracking encourages calorie counting, dieting and other compulsive, unhealthy behaviors. When a child uses a tracker, the joy of food and physical activity are lost in a world of calories and steps.
The “Step-it” trackers count steps and light up depending on the user’s activity. While fitness trackers may be helpful for some, it is absurd to think they help children develop a healthy relationship with food and exercise. The irresponsible decision to target fitness trackers at children is problematic for many reasons. Children are in a crucial developmental period in which their environment influences and shapes their opinions and behaviors.
A device like the “Step-it” tells them that numbers represent health, that there are good and bad foods, that food is meant to be “canceled out” by exercise and that their physical appearance matters more than how they are feeling. Health apps and fitness trackers eliminate the possibility for a child to develop a mindful and intuitive relationship with food or exercise.
Trackers may encourage unhealthy behaviors which can trigger eating disorders, poor body image and self-esteem. While adults who use fitness trackers are still at risk for developing dangerous behaviors, they are much less vulnerable than the children targeted by McDonald’s marketing. Many forget that Happy Meals are geared to children aged 2 to 11 years old. McDonald’s has been negligent in its marketing to children. It has not considered the potential consequences a fitness tracker might have on a child, nor has it considered the children already susceptible to disordered eating and other unhealthy behaviors.
Bearing in mind the risks involved with children using fitness trackers, the decision seems shocking, but when one considers McDonald’s motivation behind the ploy, it becomes inexcusable. McDonald’s has been attacked for decades for its unhealthy food despite the improvements it has made to the ingredient content.
The decision to market fitness trackers to children illustrates the notion that McDonald’s will not change, but wants its consumers to. The company will give fitness trackers to children so they will “burn off” and “earn” its unhealthy products rather than develop a healthier menu. McDonald’s is not improving the lives of the children it targets with fitness apps and the company’s decisions have the potential to have detrimental consequences.
*Update: McDonald’s has removed “Step-it” trackers from its Happy Meals due to skin irritations. This comes after a woman claimed the tracker burned her 4-year-old son’s wrist. It is unclear if McDonald’s will replace the trackers.
Palmer Hipp is studying in the College of Public Health at the University of Georgia. She hopes to obtain a MSW, aspiring to become an activist for social justice issues.
