Parents truly want to regularly give their children nutritious food. But, oh, the obstacles they’ll face. For starters, there’s advertising and marketing and economics, oh, my!

The battle starts long before parents and their young children hit the grocery store. Kids’ favorite characters are being co-opted to shill for sugary drinks, cereal and snacks. And child logic dictates that if the guileless (and, truth be told, clueless) SpongeBob SquarePants endorses an item, it must be good.

Laura Lindenfeld, research assistant professor in the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center at the University of Maine and the department of communication and journalism, explained that methods advertisers use to reach young children have changed over the past 20 years. It’s not just TV, radio, billboards, print media and the Internet anymore, as those account for only 20 percent of food and beverage marketing. Youths also learn about items from product placement in movies, adver-games, in-school activities and use of cartoon characters to promote the sale of certain foods and drinks.

“There’s a huge industry behind the marketing on unhealthful foods to kids,” Lindenfeld said. “There’s been an advent of newer media that are interactive and blend entertainment and advertising.”

What are the results of this push? Although it seems common-sensical, studies have proved a direct correlation between marketing and food consumption, and suggest that advertising influences food and drink choices in children ages 2-11, in terms of preferences and purchase requests. One-third of the money spent by children is spent on sweets, snacks and beverages.

So after a child has been encouraged by Harry Potter and Scooby Doo, by the Rugrats and Spider-Man, to seek out less-nutritious food, is it any wonder that a trip to the supermarket can be stressful for a parent?

A recent trip to a grocery chain store in Bangor showed what challenges parents face. The tour guide was Dr. Jonathan Shenkin of Bangor, one of two board-certified pediatric dentists in Maine, who sees the results of children’s bad diets on a daily basis.

Speaking on unhealthful foods, Shenkin said, “One of the things we deal with is that it’s cheap, it’s available and it’s glitzy.”

It quickly becomes apparent that the store is set up to attract children to certain types of food. The soda, which no one can argue is nutritious, is located across the aisle from school supplies. The sugary fruit snacks are at a child’s eye level, while the granola bars are on the top shelf. The fruit drinks can be found on lower shelves than the juices. It’s the same with cereals and drink mixes, with the less-healthful choices where children can reach them most easily.

“It depends on the nag factor,” Shenkin said. “Children see Shrek, and want it.”

Then there’s the produce section, which is comparably colorless even though it’s full of fruits and vegetables.

“It’s not as interesting, as jazzy,” he said.

Shenkin, also an assistant professor of pediatric dentistry at Boston University, has long advocated for parents to learn more about the dangers of sugars in children’s diets. Even 100 percent juice can be detrimental to tooth health if not given to children wisely. For example, parents mistakenly will give children watered-down juice throughout the day, figuring that that means less sugar exposure, but don’t realize that the prolonged exposure actually increases the probability of tooth decay.

Then economics enter the picture as well. Checking unit prices show that it’s more expensive to eat nutritiously. The unit price of a pack of fruit snacks is $3.54, while granola bars range from $4 to $5.

“When you send poorer people into the store for groceries, are they more likely to buy the lower-cost food that’s pleasing to the child, or the healthier foods that are more expensive?” Shenkin said.

Parents find themselves buying foods they know their children will eat, thus perpetuating this cycle.

“Children cultivate a taste for a certain type of food, which is heavily sugared, with high fat and high salt content,” Lindenfeld said. “They refuse other foods for lack of exposure.”

Shenkin added, “‘He doesn’t like it’ isn’t a good excuse for parents.”

“What obligation does the grocery industry have to help parents to healthily feed their children?” Shenkin said.

It’s hard to say, since the Food Marketing Institute failed to supply a spokesman to address these professionals’ concerns.

Lindenfeld, herself a mother, refuses to lay blame on parents.

“With both parents, or the only parent in a single-parent house, working, they’re overwhelmed,” she said. “I don’t think parents necessarily know what is healthy.”

More working parents means a greater need for fast, pre-packaged foods, which aren’t nutritionally optimal. Many have lost the ability to prepare a nutritious meal from scratch, while others can’t afford the more healthful foods.

Also, some parents need to change their own behaviors.

“Parents themselves are eating badly,” Shenkin said. “Their own behaviors translate into bad outcomes for their children.”

While some countries have shut down advertising aimed at children, Lindenfeld points out that the First Amendment allows freedom of expression for marketers.

“[Those in the food industry] are out to make a profit, and it’s their right to do so,” she said. “So parents need to be pro-active and gather information for themselves. You have to be your kids’ and your own best advocate.”

Lindenfeld advocates a systemwide approach to the problem. This means that schools would have more nutritious hot lunches, less junk-food availability and more innovative ways to teach proper nutrition. Medical professionals would need to be better versed in this area as well.

What may spur legislators to action are the health care problems of today’s children. More time playing video games or watching TV means less time for exercise. Childhood obesity has tripled over the past four decades, with 9 million kids obese and 15 percent more at risk of becoming obese. At the same time, children are lacking certain nutrients, such as calcium, iron, potassium, fiber, vitamin E and magnesium in their diets. Type II diabetes in children has doubled over the past decade. All this translates into higher medical costs both now and down the road.

“We’re raising a generation of kids that will require more health care than we do,” Lindenfeld said.

Lindenfield still feels that consumers can force progress in the end.

“As more people educate themselves, that puts pressure on the industry to change,” she said. “If more people demand healthier products, the market would have to adjust itself.”

Dale McGarrigle can be reached at 990-8028 and dmcgarrigle@bangordailynews.net.