New research from the University of Otago looks at the frequency and content of television food advertisements during children’s viewing times. It finds that most food advertisements during children’s programmes are for unhealthy food. This research, Marketing Fat and Sugar to Children on NZ Television, is published in Preventive Medicine, February 2006
Unhealthy food ads dominate children’s TV
Advertisers frequently claim ads don’t influence children’s food choices but the scientific evidence shows otherwise. Work published in Britain and the US shows that advertising does influence what children eat, says Celia Murphy, Executive Director of the Obesity Action Coalition (OAC):
The messages children get about food from advertising give all the wrong ideas about what they can eat on an everyday basis. The advertisements make it seem completely normal to eat high sugar, high fat foods everyday. The diet TV ads promote is just not healthy enough for anyone but especially not for children.
Source: Obesity Action Coalition press release / Scoop, 15 Feb 2006