Dr. Mercola December 13 2008 140,776 views
According to a new study, a ban on fast food advertisements in the United States could reduce the number of overweight children by as much as 18 percent. In addition, the study reports that eliminating the tax deductibility of television advertising would also result in a reduction of childhood obesity.
The study’s authors found that a ban on fast food television advertisements during children's programming would reduce the number of overweight children ages 3-11 by 18 percent, and would lower the number of overweight adolescents ages 12-18 by 14 percent.
Should the U.S. pursue this path, they would be following Sweden, Norway and Finland, which are thus far the only countries to have banned commercial sponsorship of children's programs.
Research indicates that there is an 80 percent chance an overweight adolescent will be an obese adult. Over 300,000 deaths can be attributed to obesity and weight in the United States every year.
Did you know that each week, the typical American child takes in some 38 hours (yes, a full work week) of commercial media, with its endless ads and deceptions?
Corporate advertisers are continuously wedging themselves in between you and your children. They enlist the best psychologists and market researchers money can buy to lure your kids to products and values you may not approve of and even abhor.
On their own, most parents are ill equipped to contend with the nation's largest corporations and their weapons of mass childhood seduction.
And for kids, their role as “consumer superstars” has led to an epidemic of marketing-related diseases. American kids are fatter than ever, and rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes are soaring.
Could Banning Junk Food Ads During Kids’ TV Programs Make a Difference?
Childhood obesity has more than doubled in the past 25 years. About 30 percent of U.S. children are now overweight, and, childhood diabetes has increased 10-fold in the last 20 years.
There are many established reasons for this sharp decline in the health of our youth, but little research has been done to determine just how big a role television advertising plays.
This study, the largest of its kind, measured the number of hours of fast food messages were viewed by children on a weekly basis, and was able to directly tie childhood obesity to fast food advertising on American television.
They concluded that banning fast food TV ads during children's programming would reduce the number of overweight children ages:
I believe this relatively minor change in advertising habits actually could make a noticeable dent in the current obesity epidemic plaguing our children.
But curtailing childhood obesity rates would require more than simply banning junk food ads during children’s programming. Perhaps even more important than limiting ads would be to limit TV viewing altogether.
How Many Hours Does Your Child Spend Watching TV, and What Does it REALLY Do to Their Health?
An astonishing 90 percent of American children under age 2, and as much as 40 percent of babies under 3 months old, watch TV regularly.
And, while much of the debate focuses on advertising messages and violent or sexually explicit programming, and their impact on young minds, TV may be harmful no matter what your kids are watching.
More than half of American children have a television in their bedroom; one study put the number at 70 percent. Meanwhile, a growing body of research shows strong links between a TV in the bedroom and numerous health and educational problems, including:
Of course, if your child has a TV in their bedroom, they are far more likely to watch more TV, and be exposed to more advertising. One study, published in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, found that having a TV in the bedroom increased viewing time by nearly nine hours a week!.
All of this time spent watching TV and/or playing video games, equates to a direct reduction of the time spent outdoors, pursuing more active forms of leisure, which naturally has a detrimental effect on your child’s weight and overall health.
When researchers put monitoring devices on the televisions to reduce the children’s viewing time by half (by not allowing the TV to turn on once the quota was reached), they found that:
So yes, fast food advertising is most certainly a culprit in this battle, but it’s not the only one.
Obesity is Only One of the 15 Side Effects of Watching TVNumerous other studies have also found links between health and mental problems and TVs. One researcher, Dr. Sigman, has identified no less than 15 negative effects he believes can be blamed on watching television:
1. Obesity2. Trouble healing3. Heart trouble4. Decreased metabolism5. Eyesight damage6. Alzheimer’s disease7. Decreased attention span8. Hormone disturbances9. Cancer10. Early puberty11. Autism12. Sleep difficulties13. Increased appetite14. Limited brain growth15. Diabetes
Watching TV also has a major impact on your brain chemistry. In fact, the longer you watch, the easier your brain slips into a receptive, passive mode, meaning that messages are streamed into your brain without any participation from you.
This is an advertiser’s dream, and likely one of the reasons why advertising directed at children and teens works so well.
How Can You Take Back Control Of Your Child’s Health?
I think it’s important to remember that, in the end, you as a parent are not entirely powerless. Your children will, and do, follow your example. This is why it’s so important to foster a healthy lifestyle that includes the entire family, and to take the time to discuss your knowledge with your children.
When a toddler recognizes the golden arches of McDonald’s before they can speak in full sentences, you can’t blame it all on advertising, even though that plays a role…
I have four powerful recommendations for you and your child to follow that can have a dramatic impact on your mind and body:
Lisah24, You're money!The parents of obese children was the first thing I thought of when I read this.Blaming something you can't control is stupid and demoralizing. If you constantly are looking for other people to blame for your problems you erode your self esteem little by little everyday.There's always something we can do. The most important step is go first. You're more important than God to your young children and they want to be just like you.If they see you eating, exercising and talking about health and vitality they'll follow you. They'll also follow you down the path of disease and fatigue.I didn't have shining examples in my house when I was a child. Therefore I probably cheated myself out of having the energy to study and play sports as well as I could have.In my household the mental food was also pretty substandard. There was no Earl Nightingale, Jim Rohn, or Napolean Hill being discussed. I don't think it was a coincidence that both of the sources of nourishment I needed as a child were less than optimal.It all starts with us as parents. We are 100% responsible for what our actions teach our children is good and not so good.When we step up to higher level, we bring our children with us as long as we're not all fanatical, in their face about it.Let your kids see you living an extraordinary life.They'll want in.
While those ads work...we know they work because those fast food places wouldn't be spending billions of dollars for years running them if they didn't...there's another way to defeat the fast food joints EFFORTLESSLY.
When you don't crave that sort of food...when that type of food has no pull...the ads are pretty much useless. I speak from personal experience. I used to eat a half-gallon of ice cream twice a week. I would have eaten more but I was too embarrassed to buy more.
Then I fixed my cravings. It was effortless. Later I worked next store to an ice cream parlor in a mall for two years. The place was two steps away from our store! I'd go buy water from them from time to time.
I never had any desire to buy any ice cream. Zero. Nada! I could look at the ice cream, chat with the help for five minutes and it NEVER caused a moment of craving for me.
Now, I walk into the grocery store and forget that there is an ice cream aisle. Before, I'd PLAN visiting it while I was at work...my cravings were that bad!
End the cravings EFFORTLESSLY and the sales at MacDonald's and elsewhere would drop by 50% or more. For you, it could easily drop 98% or 100%.
hubpages.com/.../How-to-Flatten-Your-Tummy-and-End-Food-Cravings-EFFORTLESSLY
The best to you.
Kelley Eidem
Together we can cure cancer - one person at a time!
Thank you, NTN! I signed in to reply to this article and the comments in the same vein. PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY should be emphasized. The obese children are just the symptoms pointing to a decline in the responsibility many parents abdicate. Fix the real problems & the symptoms will disappear.
Notetaker- I believe you are preaching to the choir.
We can certainly take charge of our own individual lives. But we live in a SOCIETY- and society certainly has an effect back on us as individuals as the society is the environment and culture we live in. This society determines what is available to us and what is not.
Advertising goes out to the masses. This includes the majority, which are not as concerned with natural health, who let thier kids watch 40 hours of TV per week, who do not question the medical community or the mainstream media. We are a part of this world that is building the fast food empires just by the laws of supply and demand. Beside that, it would be nice not to spend so much of our time, effort and lives fighting the onslaught of deception. Every day the world hands us another obstacle in health- there is ever a new ingredient to watch out for. This is wrong and we allow it when we remain separtists and just say it is my responsibility to my family only.
Unrestrained capitalism (and I definately believe capitalism is good) in this area means that we are eventually going to have more fast food and cheap processed food available and whole, fresh food will become a thing of the past. It is already extremely expensive-- living healthy is becoming something for only the rich as it is. Right NOW- the poor have NO CHOICE at all. But eventually availability of all whole, fresh will be gone for all people.
NO- we cannot stop at saying it is the responsibility of the parent and quit blaming. We have to act as if our society has been attacked- for it has. We must fight this.
Very good article, especially about not being fanatical because that will turn off every thing you try to do
My son grew up watching Grandma and me read labels in the store. He wanted the same crappy canned pasta and Mac & Cheese that his friends ate. 1 BK broiled chicken sandwich every week and three package food pastas (X-Men! Alphabets! Spider-Man in a can!) a week with his little buddies over a two year period and he was getting chubby! So, when he got angry about gaining weight ( he was in martial arts and played outside a lot) I reminded him that he could read the labels of the food he liked. I also gave him more dairy and meat since he has a metabolism more like his dad than me.
I reduced the soymilk in his diet as we gave him more dairy when I realized that it probably had phyto-estrogens in it that could make him fatter. He began to withdraw from eating these kiddy marketed foods in 6th grade, and by 8th grade was taller and the same weight, by freshman year of high school he was taller and weighed less than in 6th grade! He is in college now and still weighs @ 160 lbs) much less than 6th grade (180 lbs!)
I was a tofu and tempeh maker, for a long time, before it was a big business in the States. Soymilk and tofu were part of my diet, but the packaged stuff is not as 'good' as home-made. I know a lot of folks are anti-non-fermented soy, but like everything, small amounts won't hurt you unless you are allergic or have certain health problems. I am lactose intolerant for the most part. Probiotics has helped me so that now i can handle small amounts of it. Since i began using probiotics, I stopped using soymilk and lost 10 lbs. without changing anything else! My son is lean and healthy, good humored and more educated about nutrition than he got from school. Our public school systems ( notice they are Systems)
are only as good as the parent population can afford to spend time and be involved with. A modest school can still produce well educates children if the parents are Willing to pitch in and take control of their children's education.
Here! Here! I totally subscribe to what you have said 'Note Taking Nerd'. How, I wonder, can a young mother teach her children the values of life when today those young mother's brains have been fed on a diet of anti-heroism and anti-socialism in society; what indeed has happened to the great American dream?
And how do we hold parents accountable for what they feed their children? We have parents too incompetent to make sure their kids eat breakfast before school, parents who neglect their kids' hygiene and health, sending them to school in clothes that are soiled or unfit for the weather. We have kids with lice and ringworm. Kids born addicted to crack. Kids completely out of control because of Jekyll-Hyde no discipline alternating with screaming and hitting at home. Any educator will tell you that we are seeing more and more high-needs children entering our schools every year. More and more parents are NOT even meeting their children's basic physical and emotional needs. These kids will support us in our retirement. To the extent that laws allow, we need to provide back-up support for when parents fail because it's in our interest to do so.
Why are we pushing for more unconstitutional government? I thought Dr M considered himself a Libertarian!
Why don't we start with something that the government has the constitutional authority to deal with...removing protectionist tariffs on imported goods, like sugar, and idiotic rules on "supplements" vs "food additives". This would see an immediate drop in the use of HFCS, Aspartame, Splenda, Asulfame K, Truvia and all the other chemical sweetners. Of course, you'd have to get the politicians to turn their backs on the millions (maybe billions) they get from ADM and Monsanto, et. al.
I've asked this question before, too. We don't want government intruding in our lives as much as it is already -- why invite more? We need to educate ourselves and take responsibility for our own choices. We can't save everyone else from themselves. We should only try to teach and model good behavior and habits, not force them through legislation -- no matter how well-intentioned it seems.
When I first read the article I thought Dr. Mercola needed to be reminded of the failiure of Prohibition and the War on Drugs. But not so! The article is full of good suggestions about what you need to do for yourself and your family.
Dr. Mercola was asking a question about banning advertisements more than he was advocating actually trying to do so. Dr. Mercola was being very Libertarian with helpful suggestions about what we can do to help ourselves and not become victims of people who want us to buy their harmful products.
Clearly each of us must take charge of our own lives and the health of our families. Government is not going to stop companies from making and promoting health destroying "food" just because a minority of "health nuts" want it so.
No, McDonalds et. al will be packed with people who all have diabetes type 2 stamped on their forehead, and Aspartame and other poisons will continue to be on each and every table. And our politicians? They will continue to get all expense paid trips to Hawaii both from those who cause health problems and those who supply drugs wanting to fix them.
I find my biggest challenge in keeping my kids healthy is more from the families of their friends who buy all this advertized junk-food and then serve it to my kids when they visit. When their kids visit us they say we don't have anything good for snacks.
We have the DISH recorder and record all of the TV we watch and then take turns fast forwarding through the commercials. No one at our house likes to watch or has to watch commercials.
What will the Fast-Food advertisers do about that?
Hello Floanne, I agree, if anything we need less government not more.
Dr. Mercola said that he does believe a ban would result in a reduction of obesity but doesn't seem to advocate a ban. He then goes on to show us what we can do for ourselves so that we are not victims of advertizing.
Alcohol Prohibition and the War on Drugs proves you are right about not forcing behaviour changes with legislation.
"What will the Fast-Food advertisers do about that? "
Product placement!
My wife and I decided a while ago that we would not let our child watch broadcast TV. We watch programs from DVD only that we select. about 8 months ago I made some changes to our living room and ended up deleting our cable TV feed altogether. It is so nice to not have to hear nonsense commercials or be bombarded by terrible programming. Do yourself a favor and stop watching broadcast TV!!! News from the TV is so sensationalized it sickens me. The media thrives on suffering and hardship and can't wait to sink their teeth into the next crises or murder. Don't give one more penny of your hard earned money to the greedy broadcasters and their advertisers.
Jaxonhell,
My husband and I agreed about a year ago to sell our television to one of my co-workers and haven't looked back since. Our biggest problem is all the television our children watch over at my mother's whilst we are at work. As she puts it 'they won't have anything to do' if she doesn't let them watch shows. Then I look at the dusty pile of games and toys we brought for them to play with. It's disgusting and it makes me feel impotent rage every time I see her television because I know when we had them in day care, it was a million times worse. All the talking in the world won't convince her.
Aside from my problems, however, those of us who have eschewed television in favor of watching a DVD on the computer when we want to watch something need also to be aware that it become just as habit forming and just as dangerous. The films we watch are still going to be full of advertisements, they're going to be just as addictive. My husband and I went from watching a DVD on the computer once a week to almost every day and it happened so slowly that we never really caught ourselves until we realized that we were watching a movie every night after the kids were in bed. And letting the kids watch a DVD whilst I'm trying to cook dinner has also become a habit at least 4 times a week. So all those who look to DVD's as the alternative, please do be aware of how easy it is to slip into it being a complete substitute and be aware of how much of your life you are wasting with each DVD.
Mrs Yoder
Thanks for the info on TV dangers. My house (with 4 kids ages 2-10) has been TV-free since 2000. It was quite clear that all the negatives just piled up into something that couldn't be touched by any positives that TV brings... even when considering educational programming.
We still have TV's in the house... but they all have DVD's. We buy the best educational materials on DVD, along with positive kids shows like Veggie Tales, and the kids don't feel like they're missing anything. They probably spend less than 5 hours a week watching anything at all... and what they do watch is commercial-free and pre-approved by my wife and I.
Besides that, it's been great for me and the wife. Our income has increased tenfold since we turned off the idiot-box. We are no longer bathed in messages of doom and compliance. 9-11 affected us for about a week, as it should have. My sister lived in Manhattan at the time, witnessed both crashes, and was really devastated. But we were able to move on and assimilate the tragedy. Anyone watching television at the time... and for a year following... was not afforded that opportunity.
For anyone reading; know that living without TV is really super once you've made the commitment. It's like a horrible addiction that takes a while to detox from. You'll really miss it for a few months, but after that, you'll totally rejoice in your decision.