Add to favorites Examiner Bio

Fat chance: Ban on fast food advertising could reduce childhood obesity rate

niallkennedy Flickr Photo (CC)

A study in this month’s Journal of Law and Economics suggests that a ban on fast food advertising in the United States could reduce the number of overweight children by as much as 18%.

In 2006, a report issued by the Institute of Medicine suggested that there was evidence linking food advertising on television and increased rates of childhood obesity, although there was not sufficient evidence to establish a causal link.

For the latest study, researchers from the National Bureau of Economic Research reviewed data from the 1979 Child-Young Adult National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to determine the television viewing habits of nearly 13,000 children.

Based on this analysis, the researchers determined that a ban on fast food advertising during children’s television programming could reduce the number of overweight children between the ages 3 to 11 by as much as 18%. In children ages 12 to 18, the ban could reduce the number of overweight children by as much as 14%. 

Commenting on the findings, the researchers say that the study “provides evidence of [the] link” hinted at by the Institute of Medicine. Despite these findings, however, the researchers stopped short of recommending a fast food advertising ban, noting that the need for government involvement and high cost of implementing such a ban would prove prohibitive.

Now, perhaps it is unfair to air commercials for unhealthy food during children’s programming and maybe the kiddie networks should be held to higher advertising standards than other networks because their audience is so darn impressionable (as anyone who has a four year old and has gone to a toy store in the run up to the holidays can attest to!). But isn’t the real answer to educate our children? To let them know that even if their favorite super hero is shilling for Burger King, he probably wouldn’t be able to fly through the air with the greatest of ease (or look nearly as svelte in his costume) if he’d just ingested a double cheeseburger? Yes, banning advertising could be a short term solution to the problem, but the real answer is to keep kids active and engaged enough that they don’t have to resort to watching hours of television and fall prey to the marketing masterminds behind fast food establishments.

 

For more info: 
Mark's Daily Apple: Seedlings and the need for nature
Science Daily: Ban on fast food TV advertising would reverse childhood obesity trends, study shows