From UCLA
Even as First Lady Michelle Obama launches into leading a national campaign against child obesity, researchers in Westwood have new findings about televised junk food commercials and the role they play in the major health woe among kids. They say that it is not the boob tube itself that helps to make youngsters fat, it is those darned ads for bad eats for them. The incessant drum-beat of messages that direct them to chow down on sugary edibles, soda pop, fast food and snacks appears to take hold in kids, even before age 2, leading, of course, to increase issues with diabetes, cardiovascular issues and even affecting intellligence and achievement. By the time children are 4, they have been bombarded with 4,000 tv food ads annually, one every five minutes during Saturday cartoon prime time; 95% of the ads, researchers say, are for poor nutrition products. A solution to this significant driver of a harmful health factor: Parents, snap off that TV, or at least put in educational DVDs or other programming.
By age 4, kids found to view 4,000 bad nutrition messages annually
Comments