Hungry, Hungry Hank

If you’re fed up with Bratz dolls and think Barbie promotes negative ideas about women’s bods (but c’mon…she can do math!) then perhaps this game will sufficiently muck up your child’s relationship between food and happiness. Hungry Hank!™ is a new board game for preschoolers designed to teach the fundamentals of healthy eating and exercise.

How does Hank accomplish such a Herculean task?

By teaching little kids that donuts make you blow up! Literally!

According to the web site, here’s how the game works: One full trip around the board is a day in Hungry Hank’s life. Hank encounters a variety of food choices for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and maybe even dessert. Of course, he also need to get his sweat on, so he'll need plenty of exercise – carried out by the child him or herself.

“Each time you land on a food space, pump Hungry Hank the number of times indicated by pressing the big green button by Hungry Hank's feet. For example, landing on a bowl of cereal and a banana for breakfast is 1 pump. Two donuts and chocolate milk for breakfast - that's 3 pumps! All food spaces require at least 1 pump, but you will see some require a lot more! Every time Hungry Hank eats, his arms flap, he burps or grunts and his belly grows.”

Should you (or your child) land on an exercise space, it’s time to get up and replicate the exercise HH is doing, like eight Jumping Jacks. Ultimately, though, no amount of pushups or windmills will save you if you happen to be the unlucky player to land on the food space which causes Hungry Hank to pop, ending the game along with his life.

As the web site ominously warns, “You don’t want to be the one to make Hungry Hank pop!”

I like the idea of a game that encourages kids to make smart decisions and stay healthy. In fact, I just saw this new indoor bike that kids can ride while playing a video game – they have to pedal to keep going in the game. But Hungry Hank seems to be promoting the idea that foods can be divided into “good” and “bad” categories which, at age four, shouldn’t be an issue. A preschooler can have a donut or chocolate milk. Parents, in fact, can have a donut or chocolate milk, albeit they are normally recommended as once-in-a-while foods.

But the mindset of this game is well summed-up, I think, by Junkfood Science writer Sandy Szwarc: “Players come away learning that foods, especially ‘bad’ foods, make them fat. The message being illustrated is that when a food is eaten, they must purge by expending a certain number of calories in exercise to avoid getting fat. Calorie counting before they can count.”

Maybe it would be better if Hank didn’t have to physically explode as a result of his eating habits. I’m not exactly Hasbro's proudest, so I don’t know what the best change would be. Of course, I am happy to see public health efforts aimed at combatting childhood obesity so maybe I should cut Hank some slack. After all, I used to be obsessed with Hungry Hungry Hippos and I didn’t develop an eating disorder. Oh wait....

PS Thanks to WH reader Hungry Waif for the tip!

Comments

Knowing me and my guy friends when I was that young we would've kept pumping until he exploded! My attention span was very short at the age so board games weren't my preferred toy. BTW how does he "explode"? Does he actually blow up into little pieces or is it like a balloon with a hole that deflates?

Oh and I LOVED Hungry Hungry Hippos they were the best!

I still felt iffy when cookie monster all of a sudden started eating carrots! i mean come on, his name IS cookie monster. I dont know, i mean i like the anti-obesity efforts but these are taking it a step to far. could you imagine if this hank was a female? what would they call it?

I have a small quibble. Can't we all agree that donuts are a bad food? They're devoid of any nutrition at all, and most are full of hydrogenated oils, trans fats, etc. Personally, I think it's best to keep the junk away from kids as much as possible. If it's not going to provide them with energy and good nutrition, what's the point? (Birthdays and holidays excluded.)

I agree that donuts are "bad" but I think the problem is that this game and other attitudes tie a guilty and shameful feeling to the act of eating something "bad." One should be able to enjoy the donut on the occasion they have it as opposed to feeling ashamed and guilty for eating something "bad." According to some doctors and nutritionists it is this guilty feeling that often sets off disordered eating habits such as extreme restricting as well as bingeing in private. I actually have fond memories of Dunkin Donuts with my dad on Sundays because it was something special and not something "sinful and naughty."

Sorry I didn't mean to get preachy just offering my opinion :)

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