Food advertisements aimed at children

A young child sits waiting patiently for their favorite show to come on. It’s the new episode that they just can’t miss; all of their friends will be talking about it tomorrow. While they wait patiently for the show to come back on the child is bombarded with advertisements for food. From Wendy’s to Fruit Loops to Juicy Drop Pops the food advertisements are inescapable. Ooops.  Did I forget to mention that this child was overweight like so many Americans are? Wait. The shows back on. But the damage has already been done.  Having food advertisements aimed at children only helps further the childhood obesity epidemic.

            Between ages 8 to 18 children spend an average of 44.5 hours a week watching television, on the computer or behind some kind of screen. This is the most time consuming activity children have besides sleeping. (American Psychological Association) So it’s no wonder that the food industry aims their advertisements at children. The fact that kids want what they see is nothing new, especially younger, more impressionable minds. These food companies make sure that they are visible. “Food ads on television make up 50% of all the ad time on children’s shows. These ads are almost completely dominated by unhealthy food products (34% for candy and snacks, 28% for cereal, 10% for fast food, 4% for dairy products, 1% for fruit juices, and 0% for fruits or vegetables)” ( American Psychological Association)  Zero percent advertising for fruits and vegetables. Seriously?? If all kids see are ads for soda and candy and fast food, surprise surprise, they’re going to crave soda and candy and fast food. The correlation between the rising obesity rates and these advertisement are pretty direct. For example, “Other research has found that children who watch more than three hours of television a day are 50 per cent more likely to be obese than children who watch fewer than two hours.” ( American Psychological Association) . Point blank, the more t.v a child watches the more likely they are to be obese, especially with all of these food ads.

So are the food industry and their advertisements completely to blame for childhood obesity? Certainly not. A lot of it also has to do with the dynamic in the child’s home. Are they a large part? Definitely so.

"The Impact of Food Advertising on Childhood Obesity." American Psychological Association (APA). Web. 21 Mar. 2012. <http://www.apa.org/topics/kids-media/food.aspx>.