TV Ads May Induce Kids to Binge on Junk Food

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on PsychCentral.

Researchers have discovered that teenagers who watch more than three hours of commercial TV a day are more likely to eat hundreds of extra junk food snacks.

UK investigators found that incessant TV ads for unhealthy, high calorie food could lead teens to eat more than 500 extra snacks like crisps, biscuits, and fizzy drinks throughout the course of a single year compared to those who watch less TV.

Energy and other carbonated drinks high in sugar, fast food, and chips were some of the foods which were more likely to be eaten by teens who watched a lot of TV with adverts.

The report, based on a YouGov survey, questioned 3,348 young people in the U.K. between the ages of 11-19 on their TV viewing habits and diet.

When teens watched TV without commercials researchers found no link between screen time and likelihood of eating more junk food. This suggests that the advertisements on commercial TV may be driving youngsters to snack on more unhealthy food.

The report is also the biggest ever U.K. study to assess the association of TV streaming on diet.

Researchers found that teens who said they regularly streamed TV shows with ads were more than twice as likely (139 percent) to drink fizzy drinks compared to someone with low advert exposure from streaming TV, and 65 percent more likely to eat more ready meals than those who streamed less TV.

Regularly eating high calorie food and drink — which usually has higher levels of fat and sugar — increases the risk of becoming overweight or obese.

Dr. Jyotsna Vohra, a lead author on the study from Cancer Research UK, explains, “This is the strongest evidence yet that junk food adverts could increase how much teens choose to eat. We’re not claiming that every teenager who watches commercial TV will gorge on junk food but this research suggests there is a strong association between advertisements and eating habits.

Source: PsychCentral
https://psychcentral.com/news/2018/01/17/tv-ads-induce-kids-to-binge-on-junk-food/131346.html