Will the mind be misled by false advertising?

Knowing that they should not believe in the impossible or miracles, people fall into the trap of advertising.

It is said that if you eat nutritious food, you don't need any medicine, but if you don't eat nutritious food, even medicine can't help you when you get any disease.

This statement is very clear about the importance of nutritious food in our life.

Children, youth, pregnant women, nursing mothers, elderly all need nutritious food. Children are malnourished due to lack of various nutrients. They may also become physically and mentally weak.

Nutritious food with adequate nutrients is cheap and easily available. However, due to ignorance, there is an understanding that food with more nutrients is more expensive.

Even now many false advertisements on radio, TV, online and other media tempt us. We eat many expensive but useless foods without thinking.

The name of nutrition, the work of malnutrition

A few years ago I watched a discussion on the BBC between a Nestlé company promoter, a World Health Organization doctor and some people working in public health. There was a discussion about how Nestlé company's advertisement has spread confusion among consumers and how it is having a bad effect on children's health.

A person working in Nestlé said, "Yes, we have some weaknesses and we have tried to correct them."

That BBC program inspired me to write something about the false message that advertising confusion is sending to our country as well.

Advertising of any product is not bad in itself. In today's world that has become a part of business, but the problem is false, false, misleading advertising.

A multinational company that manufactures 'Shishu Ahar' continues to advertise on TV and newspapers in Nepal and India. It is said in the advertisement - 'After drinking this special food diet mixed with milk, the child becomes tall, smart and his brain becomes sharp.'

The ad, which was shown on TV in Nepal and India, was also broadcast in the UK. But after a special investigation by the Advertising Standard Authority, the government body there, it was found that there is not even one percent truth in the advertisement.

When the government questioned the company, the company's reply was - 'This ad was made for India, it has been aired in UK by mistake.' The advertisement was stopped in UK.

But this is still playing on our radio. This means that multinational companies are not allowed to advertise lies and illusions in developed countries, but are they allowed to advertise lies and illusions in a country like ours?

In the advertisement of some foods, it is said - 'The food at home does not provide enough nutrition for the child. Therefore, calcium and iron should be delivered to the child's body by buying external nutrition.

And the people who stop talking about nutrition and the responsible officials of the Ministry of Health remain silent. No one is saying this is wrong. There is no counter to the delusional propaganda that rice, dal, roti, soya beans, milk, corn, curd etc. are the only foods that provide complete nutrition to a child. Either we still have the illusion that the food in our house is not enough and the health of the child is not good without outside food?

Even consumer societies have not filed complaints about such false advertisements anywhere. Common consumers are the ones who get cheated. They give up the nutritious food made at home for 20 rupees and instead buy the less nutritious food that costs 200 rupees outside and give it to the child. Being a conscious consumer, we don't look at what's on the outside of the food. If you read what is written on it, you will easily know how wrong the advertisement is.

Such staple foods include home-grown foods such as wheat, barley, rice, and sugar. Calcium is specially added to it, or vitamin A is added.

Are these foods not available in your house? Calcium does not have to be added to food, milk, curd, jaggery, etc. contain calcium. Vitamin 'A' is not found in green vegetables, cucumbers, carrots?

Feeding soybeans or quinoa provides protein to the baby. Homemade pulses and rice are nutritious for the baby. No need for outside food. Who will advertise this? Because there is no money in advertisement of soybeans, but if the same soybeans are well packed and advertised in plastic, we will buy the same soybeans instead of homemade soybeans by spending a lot of rupees.

If the consumers were to be aware, would such advertising companies tell less lies? Because there are very few organizations that campaign against false advertising. Such organizations do not have access to various media. Such initiatives are not being taken by government agencies.

Various food items produced in our country are rich in nutrients. It has been confirmed that food products with more nutrients can be obtained at a lower price from the scientific study and analysis conducted on the food items produced and prepared in the village.

Packaging of ready-to-eat foods to be bought in the market requires more resources. To make it more attractive, use colored cardboard or paper. For this, adding the additional expenses and the share of profit taken by the trader, the price of the item is definitely higher. Instead, if you can use food items that can be prepared at home in the village, you can get the maximum benefit at a low price. Also the problem of malnutrition can be reduced.

You must have seen the ad on TV - 'After applying this oil, my knee that needed to be operated on got better. So and so ointment worked like magic and I didn't have to touch the stick. How many people have been lured by such advertisements. Falling into the trap of people who cheat in the name of Ayurveda can lead to many problems. A real Ayurvedic doctor does not say that any medicine will cure like a magic wand with a guarantee.

A 47-year-old woman gained excessive weight after taking an Ayurvedic medicine for knee pain. When the doctor spoke to him, he heard something surprising. She goes to a 'so-called Ayurvedic doctor' near home and takes medicine for joint pain in hands and feet. He starts gaining weight due to the said medicine. When he tested the 'undisclosed drug' in the hospital, it was found that this drug contained only prednisolone.

This medicine is used in modern medicine for rheumatic problems. But it is given only under the doctor's supervision and after using the medicine it is gradually removed as per the doctor's advice.

On examination, it was discovered that he had a problem with the joints. He was made to stop the medication on that Poco and was given medication for arthritis and joint problems. Now his problem is less. The weight has also decreased.

Similarly, false advertisements about obesity and sexual problems are being propagated in different places. But never fall into the trap of misleading advertisements and advertisements that claim to be 'cures with a guarantee'. Moreover, the things that are guaranteed to be treated in the Ayurvedic way are only done by fraudsters.

Knowing that they should not believe in the impossible or miracles, people fall into the trap of advertising. In particular, we have some weak nerves, which advertising agencies and advertising companies are very good at tapping into. By grasping that weak vein, when there is advertising, people get trapped like a fish in a net.

People are being cheated in every moment of their life by falling under the influence of misleading advertisements. Even things that are not needed are bought under the influence of advertisement. Spending too much where there is little to spend seems to lead to the deterioration of one's health. It is important to think carefully before using an item after watching the advertisement, whether the things said in the advertisement are really worth believing?