Do TV ads lead to childhood obesity? Economists say yes
Seattle – The more fast-food advertising viewed on TV, the higher the risk of childhood obesity, concludes a study published in the Journal of Law and Economics’ current issue.
If fast food commercials were banned during children’s television shows, the number of overweight or obese children would decrease 18% and overweight teens would decrease 14%, say the study’s lead authors, Lehigh College economist Shin yi Chou and Georgia State University economist Inas Rashad.
The study also took into account the fact that obese or overweight kids typically watch more TV than other children.
“We’re arguing the causality is how many messages are aired… [viewing] more of these messages are leading people to put on weight,” argued Dr. Michael Grossman, City University of New York profesor of economics.
Critics dispute these findings, since Chou and Rashad based part of the study on government survey data from the 1990s.
Burger King, McDonalds, and other packaged food companies recently signed the Council of Better Business Bureau’s Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, agreeing to air only ads promoting healthier foods, such as apples and milk, during television shows that target children age 11 and under, according to Elaine Kolish, spokeswoman for the Council.
The study’s authors studied data from the 1979 Child-Young Adult National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, which was based on the viewing habits of almost 13,000 children and thousands of surveys of American families. Both studies were commissioned by the U.S. Labor Department.
The researchers also studied the largest 75 television markets, fast food commercials, as well as the size of the viewing audience. Using a statistical test, the researchers took into account other factors, such as the number of local fast food restaurants and family income.
All of these factors make it difficult to estimate how childhood risk of obesity is influenced by television, because the statisticians often have to make assumptions about children’s viewing habits, says Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy at Yale University.
Previous studies linked TV advertising with obesity, such as The Institute of Medicine’s 2006 report, but the study’s authors claim this is the first study to prove the theory empirically.
About a third of American children are considered obese or overweight, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “There has been a surge in the amount of time children are spending watching TV and playing video games instead of playing outside,” said the CDC.
Economists have stuffed the World and now they believe they have credibility in childrens’ diets and obesity, give me a break. An advert does not force food into kids mouths, parents do. Educate the parents and get them eating well and the kids will follow, stop looking for an easy target like advertising to blame, eventuall y you will run out of alternative targets and be forced to return to the source of the problem. We are what we eat and we are the ones putting stuff in our and childrens mouths. As an aditional point get the kids outside playing sport like they used to. Get them of computers and WII’s and in the street playing ball to burn off the crap we feed them
There are a lot of factors in child health besides ads–what about the built environment that many children live in? In so much of the U.S. there are no sidewalks, and parents do not allow the free play that used to be the norm. Children are captives to a culture that does not let adults “play” either; try a pedestrian visit to your own neighborhood and see how fun it is. I live now in Sri Lanka, where everyone walks quite a bit, and there is little to watch on TV that is very compelling. Food is available almost everywhere and much of it is fried snacks. It is the walking that makes the difference, and adults provide an example. I would like to see Americans assert the rights of pedestrians and give our children better examples.