In the largest study of its kind to track the magnitude and content oftelevision food advertising that targets children, researchers lookedat 1,638 hours of programming and analyzed nearly 9,000 food andbeverage ads. They found that none of the food advertisements targetedto kids were for fruits or vegetables, and more than half the ads theysaw were for candy, snacks or fast food.
The study found that the average American "tween"—boys and girlsbetween the ages of 8 and 12—is now watching as many as 21 food ads perday, or 7,600 television ads every year. [...]
Health experts like Michael McGinnis, chair of the Institute ofMedicine's Committee of Food Marketing to Children, see a clearconnection between the advertising and obesity. "Marketing to kids is a$10 billion industry; new food and beverage products for kids rosetenfold between 1994 and 2004," McGinnis says. "There is just noquestion that children's diets are affected quite directly bymarketing, especially TV marketing."
