Will banning Fast Food advertising reduce Childhood Obesity?

[Lisa Newton]

A study published in this month’s issue of the Journal of Law and Economics found a correlation between television commercials and the increase in childhood obesity trends.

In the study, economists estimated that if the US were to ban fast food advertisements from television programs, the number of overweight children in the country would be reduced by 18% and decrease the number of overweight teenagers by 14%.

Are the researchers being proactive or blaming television for society’s ills?

What do you think?

[HomeFitnessbody.com]

Lisa,
This may be a start, but schools may be another place to look to as well, where proper nutrition is taught each year. Without it, the obesity levels will continue to rise.
To me the advertising has already done its damage. The people that frequent these types of eateries will continue to go and take their kids along to introduce them to it too.

[riverbender]

Blaming.

And I don't know how reliable an obesity study conducted by economists could actually be. I ran across this article the other day - the author is someone at Lehigh University. I couldn't ascertain whether it was a student writing for the school paper or a faculty member. I'd like to see the actually study itself. I'm really curious as to they managed to come up with the numbers.

I don't know many younger kids who actually have unadulterated access to fast food.

And what will we be replacing the fast food commercials with? Video game commercials maybe? ;)

Lifestyle choices are just that - choices. All that articles like this do is give folks excuses for their unhealthy choices. "My kid is overweight because McDs brainwashed him." Great, let's take control away from the parents and give it to the gov't because they are oh so good at taking care of kids. Doesn't make sense to me.

[Passionate Green]

Advertising is everything ... it shapes our thinking, whether we are aware of it or not. Less fast food advertising would be awesome. Less sex and violence on tv would make a big difference too! Art mirrors life, but life also mirrors art.

However, there is no substitute for good parenting. We can't blame tv for everything.

The picture of the overweight little boy makes me want to cry. I have a four year old son and I do everything within my power to keep that from happening to him, despite the lifestyle and genetics that I unwillingly pass along.

[Debbie Petras]

This was my subject of a blog post on Heart Choices last week. I asked for opinions and I was amazed at how passionate many of the commenters were. I would say that the majority felt that parents need to participate in educating their children about healthy nutrition. I might also add that one of the best ways to teach is to practice that behavior too. I don't really think government regulation is the best way to go. Parents and schools need to work together. And fast food restaurants should post nutrition info and have healthier options availabe.

[Fake Food Free]

It is such a complex issue. I do believe that advertisement is a powerful thing. I mean, have you ever sat down and watched some of the stuff during a kids show? It is amazing how many food commercials pop up. They do make you hungry, that is for sure.

Cutting down on the ads would help, but it definitely wouldn't solve the problem. Maybe it would make a difference in some teens because many of them go out on their own and purchase their own food. However, for younger children I find it hard to believe it would make a difference. Perhaps they would ask for the unhealthy choices less, but someone is buying that food for them. Until that changes neither will their weight.

[David]

Ads for Smoking and Alcohol were banned and their usage is at an all time high--so no I don't think that banning
of ads will make a difference.

[Craig Maltby]

David - Smoking has decreased significantly. Back in the 50s, 70 percent of American adults smoked. Now it's about 20. That's due to a lot of stuff -- much more science and education, medical community preaching against smoking at every turn, etc. But the ban of TV ads has probably contributed too.

I don't think that will or should transfer to fast food.

[vitamingirlshop]

The study you are referring to was on cbs news just the other night. I also posted this in my blogger, as I agree that advertising has a huge impact on our choices of what we eat. I don't watch TV often, but I am surprised at how effective this method of advertising can be. It is in our subconscious minds, and late at night few places are open with the exception of fast food. I worked until 4 am and later on many occasions, and it was so easy to just grab a burger on the way home. The restaurants are doing better with coming out with salads, and Wendy's offers different sides for the combo meals, but more often than not, all you see in these ads are big greasy hamburgers and fries. Even if I am not hungry, after watching a commercial like that, I am often tempted to go buy one. I feel that banning the advertising will not only help reduce child and teen obesity, but also help with adults as well. The adults are the ones who have to drive to these places for the children. They are just as much, if not more, to blame for their childrens weight problems. Children do not drive, they do not cook their own meals, and the parents giving them the option of eating junk is the main cause of obesity in my opinion. Parents who start their children off with healthy choices from the start do not have as much to worry about. If you have never had fries, burger, and a coke how would you know what you are missing?

[Steve]

I was aware of this study. I guess you should ask yourself the following questions.

1) Did banning cigarette advertising or hard liquer have the intended effect?
2) What does this do to our first amendment rights?

I think just having the subject on the table is good for building better health awareness. I'm not sure we can blame the problem 100% on the food industry as the consumer needs to take some responsibility as well. With that said, the same rules applied to providing nutritional information on products on our store shelves should apply to fast food industry. There needs to be a campaign of health awareness, and the food industry needs to be accountable for providing accurate nutrition related information (including potential health hazards) as part of their advertising.

Anyway, that is just my initial reaction, but I'm willing to keep the discussion going and attempt to keep an open mind.

Steve Caldwelll


Visit HealthEWorld

[Craig Maltby]

Fast food advertising ban--which will be impossible--might make a small dent, but what about the rest of the junk food ads? The are many more ads about candy, soda, and the like. And what about other restaurant ads? Would a Wendy's ad about a hamburger be illegal, but a Perkins or Chili's ad about an equally dangerous hamburger be legal?

To me, the whole study is a waste, because free speech of legal food products cannot and will not be regulated. Even if they tried, marketers will find loopholes galore.

The best prevention against fat kids is to do everything possible to educate parents and keep nutrition education at the forefront in schools. Beyond that, changing our health care insurance system to promote financial incentives for people who achieve and maintain certain health parameters would be a plus as well.

[Lauren]

Oh, I miss the good old days when TV itself was the bad guy.

Advertising to children is already highly regulated, in part because a child does not necessarily know when they are being sold to, or the difference between commercials and programming (if there even really is one these days). It doesn't seem unreasonable to me to begin to set limits on fast food advertising during kid's shows, although you'd have one hell of a time fighting for it. TV is already a dying medium for advertising, I'm not sure the networks could weather a blow to such a large portion of their advertising dollars.

In other words, if you want your child to see Dora the Explorer without a Big Mac, get ready to pay more for cable TV.

Or allow less TV time. Two birds, one stone.

[Christopher]

no because parents have to be the ones to do something. advertisement does not change the minds and patterns of people's behavior.