Last month leading UK modelling employment agency Models Direct brought you articles that discussed the problem of childhood obesity in modern society. We flagged up a controversial advertising campaign raising awareness of childhood obesity; we considered whether or not body building for kids was tipping the balance too far in the wrong direction and finally questioned; are parents to blame for the bad habits that can lead to childhood obesity?

This week Models Direct is interested to discover that, with further help from child models and teen models, the Ad Council has actually begun airing advertisements that they have designed specifically to target the mothers of overweight children. The “Mom was Here” campaign features a clever set of advertisements that manage to convey an important message to families effected by obesity and empower mums at the same time. They focus on inventive ideas around ways that parents can make positive changes that could ultimately help to save their children’s lives. As one might expect, research shows that both a mother’s eating habits and perception of her child’s eating habits impact dramatically on her child’s nutrition. Mums are also often the parent who fills a child’s lunch box or chooses the majority of the groceries coming into the home.

Senior Vice President and Group Campaign Director at the Ad Council Heidi Arthur says: “We realized that mums in particular are an important part of the equation. They take on a lot of responsibility in the areas of food shopping and food prep, and are the overall gatekeepers of health in the home.”

We love that the models and actors in the “Mom was Here” campaign celebrate a mother’s influence while promoting fun and inventive ways in which any parent can introduce exercise into the lives of their children.

“We wanted to be deliberately upbeat and positive, and to articulate clear, actionable steps that mothers and caregivers can do everyday to keep their kids healthy without having to readjust their already busy schedules. We don’t want to overwhelm parents who are already overwhelmed.” Confirms Arthur. “They’re very simple things but if you aggregate all the very simple things that you could do everyday, well, they really do add up.”

This campaign is a great step in encouraging society to face childhood obesity while keeping things positive, but you can’t help wondering where the father focused advertisements are. A recent study found that children of authoritarian fathers are more likely to eat junk food, and that the frequency with which fathers eat fast food directly influences the eating habits of their children.

Food for thought?