Common Sense Media Review
By Ellen Dendy
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Learning to eat right with Mickey and friends.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
What's It About?
Healthy competition is the name of the game at DISNEY'S HEALTHY KIDS, an interactive site where kids learn important nutritional facts and how to use the USDA's food pyramid to create and maintain a balanced diet. A camp counselor guides kids through competitions at Mickey's Mess Hall, Kim Possible's Science Cave, Lilo's Luau, and Incredible Island, where players learn about the food pyramid then compete in trivia games (covering values/benefits of certain foods, balanced meals, interpreting and applying food pyramid guidelines, and daily physical exercise) against imaginary opponents. Besides Disney characters there's no commercialism except in the parent-specific area where there are promotions for foods and links to healthy lifestyle guides for families.
Is It Any Good?
Overall the site does a good job emphasizing the importance of a healthy lifestyle and explaining the food pyramid. Essential background information given at each camp stays the same, but training session facts and trivia questions rotate, so the more kids play, the more they learn. Questions range in difficulty and cover a lot of ground -- even parents can learn something new. The cartoon graphics are bold and very inviting.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how commercialism plays a role in healthy -- and unhealthy -- eating. Have you ever asked your parents to buy you a certain brand of food because one of your favorite characters, movies, or TV shows was on the package? When you go to the grocery store, do you see more healthy or unhealthy foods with packages targeted at kids? Do you think it's more important that a food product features one of your favorite characters on its packaging, or that it tastes good and is healthy? Why?
Website Details
- Genre : Brand Sites
- Pricing structure : Free
- Last updated : June 19, 2019
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