Speaking at the “Choosing Milk Amid Inflation” seminar in Ho Chi Minh City Tuesday, psychology lecturer at the HCMC University of Education, Dr.
Huynh Van Son, said that most parents have been misled by milk advertising campaigns that say the dairy beverage can significantly change a child’s IQ.
He said that most parents do not know that a child’s intelligence depends much more on a variety of other factors, such as heredity, living environment and education.
Tran Ngoc Dung, executive director of FTA Research & Consultant Company, quoted the company’s 2007 survey of 400 parents in HCMC and Hanoi in which about 70 percent of parents in all class groups said they wanted to buy the most expensive milk brands, most of which advertise supplemental nutritious substances that “help develop a child’s intelligence.”
Son said most parents change milk brands after learning about another more expensive brand.
Both Dung and Son said the difference of quality in most milk brands on the market is not large.
Dung said parents in fact had no idea which brands of milk were healthier and were simply following consumer trends.
Son said drinking milk can only help heredity factors develop marginally and suggested that parents stop believing everything that advertisements say about nutrition.
“Education is the most important factor in the development of a child.” he said.
“Parents should stimulate the development of a one- to three-year-old child’s brain with educational activities.”
Dr. Dao Thi Yen Thuy of the HCMC Nutrition Center advised parents to consider their income and focus on providing their children with basic nutritious substances, not supplements.
The seminar, held by the municipal Department of Education and Training’s Me & Con (Mother and Children) Magazine, attracted 50 experts and parents.
Reported by Van Khoa |
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