Commercials and Childhood Obesity

Envision this: children around the world are sitting in front of the TV watching food commercials to the tune of more than five per hour. Most of those commercials are for sugary foods, fast food, and other high-calorie items, all of which can add to childhood obesity.

Childhood obesity and excessive weight is a national problem. The National Center for Health Statistics reports that 17 percent of children are overweight. Further, overweight children quite often become overweight adults. They have an increased risk for diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, and certain cancers, among other ailments and diseases. As reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), part of the problem may be that American society has become “obesogenic,”. This is characterized by situations and environments that elevate increased consumption of food, unhealthful foods, and a sedentary lifestyle.

As reported by researchers at the University of California-Davis, that studied the kinds of food commercials watched by children who watch English- and Spanish-language TV programs. During high viewing times for kids (Saturday mornings and weekday afternoons). Recordings were made of programs on twelve networks, including children’s cable channels, networks that attract older youths, mainstream English-language channels, and the two highest rated Spanish language channels.

A total of 5,724 commercials were recorded. Of these, 1,162 were food-related. Children were shown an average of 5.2 food related commercials per hour. Of these commercials, more than 70 percent were for unhealthful items (foods with elevated sugar and/or increased fat content), which add to childhood obesity. Thirty-four percent of these ads were for fast-food restaurants and convenience foods.

The greatest share of food-related ads were seen on children’s networks, where the advertisements were mostly for sugary cereals and sweets, high-fat foods, fast-food restaurant fare, and snacks. Compared with television for a generalized audience, children’s TV exposed its watchers to 76 percent more food advertisements per hour than the other networks. Children who watch TV on a children’s network during Saturday morning from 7 to 10 AM are shown approximately one food commercial every eight minutes.

Older kids continue to be shown unhealthful food advertisements. The researchers watched programming such as the music videos offered by BET and MTV. They found that 80 percent of the MTV food advertisements were for fast food restaurants, sugary beverages, and sweets.

The publishers of the research, which was published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, wrote that “Study after study has documented the adverse health effects of food advertising targeting children and adolescents.” They went on to state that “School- and family-based programs that have attempted to reduce children’s media use have shown promise.” Yet because children are shown food ads by other media, particularly the Internet, the authors propose the introduction of “nutrition-focused media literary interventions” to help young people translate the economic motives of food advertisers and the techniques the industry uses to increase desire for their products. These campaigns, along with others, may help stem the growing epidemic of childhood obesity.

Here is your free guide to healthful cooking. For more information about some of the causes of childhood obesity visit Facts About Childhood Obesity.

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