HONOLULU, April 24 Television commercials aired during childrens shows now emphasize larger fast-food portions compared with Saturday morning ads in the 1970s, which focused mainly on sugary breakfast cereals, according to a study being presented at the American Heart Associations Asia Pacific Scientific Forum. Researchers say this trend may contribute to the rise in childhood obesity.
Physical inactivity during leisure activities, including television viewing, has been implicated as a contributor to the prevalence of obesity in children and risk for heart disease later in life.
This study cannot confirm an association between the products advertised and the health status of children and teens, says Marlene M. Most, Ph.D., R.D., associate professor of research, Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La.
However, our findings suggest that if young people were to consume many of the products being advertised to them, and also had a decrease in physical activity, this could contribute to obesity and heart disease.
In 1976, most of the commercials directed at young people on Saturday mornings were for breakfast cereal (43 percent of total commercials). The next largest category was candy commercials followed by advertisements for fast-food restaurants, says Most.
Although breakfast cereal commercials remain popular during Saturday morning programming, we noticed a real surge in commercials for fast-food restaurants over the past 25 years, she says.
Not only has the number of fast-food commercials increased, the type of commercials has changed over the years as well, Most says. In 1976, most fast-food restaurants emphasized the food itself, with lots of pictures of hamburgers, french fries and soft drinks. In 1992, however, the emphasis changed to the fun atmosphere of fast-food restaurants. Then in 2001, the focus shifted again to emphasize the value of larger kid-sized portions now available.
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Contact: Carole Bullock
carole.bullock@heart.org
214-706-1279
American Heart Association
24-Apr-2002