Fast-food ad ban could cut child obesity: U.S. study

lumbingmi

lumbingmi

Active Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2006
Messages
4,370
Reaction score
6
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Banning fast-food advertising on television in the United States could reduce the number of overweight children by as much as 18 percent, researchers said on Wednesday.

But the team at the National Bureau of Economic Research questioned whether it would be practical to impose that kind of government regulation -- something only Sweden, Norway and Finland have done.

"We have known for some time that childhood obesity has gripped our culture, but little empirical research has been done that identifies television advertising as a possible cause," said economist Shin-Yi Chou of Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.

"Hopefully, this line of research can lead to a serious discussion about the type of policies that can curb America's obesity epidemic."

For their study, funded in part by the federal government, Chou and colleagues used data on nearly 13,000 children from the 1979 Child-Young Adult National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, both issued by the U.S. Department of Labor.

"The advertising measure used is the number of hours of spot television fast-food restaurant advertising messages seen per week," they wrote in the Journal of Law and Economics.

"Our results indicate that a ban on these advertisements would reduce the number of overweight children ages 3-11 in a fixed population by 18 percent and would reduce the number of overweight adolescents ages 12-18 by 14 percent."

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 13.9 percent of children aged 2 to 5 are overweight, 18.8 percent of those aged 6 to 11 are and more than 17 percent of those 12 to 19.

The percentages have been steadily rising.

Television watching is also known to raise obesity rates, both because children exercise less and because it can interfere with sleep.

The Institute of Medicine reported in 2006 that there was compelling evidence linking food advertising on television and increased childhood obesity.

One study suggested that children viewed an average of about 20,000 commercials aired on television per year in the late 1970s, rising to 30,000 per year in the late 1980s and more than 40,000 per year in the late 1990s.
Click to expand...

Fast-food ad ban could cut child obesity: U.S. study - Yahoo! News

That s great news for parents :)
 
Good. well, STILL, its parents responsibles of dealing with their own kids eating habits. No that is not easy!
 
it'll never happen, as "bad" as fast food seems to be, they still have rights to advertise their product.
 
dead money said:
it'll never happen, as "bad" as fast food seems to be, they still have rights to advertise their product.
Click to expand...

It also won't solve the problem. We need to teach kids about healthy eating and that comes from the parents. Kids model their parents eating habits. If the parents model healthy eating habits, then the kids will, too.

I honestly don't think a ban on advertising is going to do a damn thing for the obesity problem in this country.
 
Oceanbreeze said:
It also won't solve the problem. We need to teach kids about healthy eating and that comes from the parents. Kids model their parents eating habits. If the parents model healthy eating habits, then the kids will, too.

I honestly don't think a ban on advertising is going to do a damn thing for the obesity problem in this country.
Click to expand...

me neither. Theres only 4 million fast food hangouts in america... thats advrtising on itself. Plus kids arent the only ones who eat it....parents buy it knowing its a fast and efficient way on-the-go to take care of dinner/lunch. They'll still do it. And they'll do it for their children as well.

And its still food. Eat it in moderation and kids will be fine anyway.
 
Funny, i grew up, watching the advertise about mcdonald's and burger king were on tv a LOT.. nowaday i notice they advertise less and less about mcdonalds and burger king, have anyone notice?? if anyone of you who were born in 1960's 1970s???
 
That's a start but however, Like some of you guys said - Banning the fast food advertisement won't be the sole reason to solve the obesity. It isn't the answer to everything.

There are a lot of ways to be obese than just relying only on fast foods. Heck, There's candies, junk foods, and various types of foods out there too. So, should they ban the advertisements for candies and junk foods too?
 
Jolie77 said:
That's a start but however, Like some of you guys said - Banning the fast food advertisement won't be the sole reason to solve the obesity. It isn't the answer to everything.

There are a lot of ways to be obese than just relying only on fast foods. Heck, There's candies, junk foods, and various types of foods out there too. So, should they ban the advertisements for candies and junk foods too?
Click to expand...

Agreed. Banning the fast food ads on TV isnt going to make people lose weight.

It's still the person's RESPONSIBLITY to watch what they eat.

So they are just fast food ads. what's next? ban beer ads since its not apporiate for ppl under 21 to see this? :roll:

Again, it's still the person's responsiblity when it comes to drinking. Everyone should know there are laws based upon on this so...it doesnt take rocket science to realize how bad drinking can be.
 
Ban on ads wouldn't help kids to lose the weight, it's parent's responsible.

McDonald's need make improve on nutrient for kids.
 
Foxrac said:
Ban on ads wouldn't help kids to lose the weight, it's parent's responsible.

McDonald's need make improve on nutrient for kids.
Click to expand...


or they can add the heatlhy section to them. i admit I like the original mcdonald tastes like. :eek3:
 
Oceanbreeze said:
It also won't solve the problem. We need to teach kids about healthy eating and that comes from the parents. Kids model their parents eating habits. If the parents model healthy eating habits, then the kids will, too.

I honestly don't think a ban on advertising is going to do a damn thing for the obesity problem in this country.
Click to expand...

neither do i.
 
this may be off-topic, but mcdonald's isn't the same as it used to be. it was *much* better 25-30 years ago.
 
I don't think that will work and that's too extreme. It's the parent's responsibility to look after their kids not the government.
 
sequoias said:
I don't think that will work and that's too extreme. It's the parent's responsibility to look after their kids not the government.
Click to expand...

Yup, I dislike any government control on our healthly or diet, jeez.
 
Yes, I agree most of your posts that ban fast food ads on TV doesn't solve anything. It's parents' responsiblity to expose their children what good or bad nutrient...

We still have Fast Food ads on TV here but we are not interesting but just *nodding*... My both boys are not interesting to go McDonald or King Burger because we don't go there often... most is go to Italian, Greek or German resturant... My boys' last visit to King Burger was last January 2008. Very rare...
 
Secretblend said:
Do they? That reminds me of when they banned cigarette commercials. :hmm:
Click to expand...

Well cigs you have to be 18 to buy, and is considered a drug. Is a Jack-in-the-box 99 cent JR bacon cheesebuger a drug? I see what youre saying but its like apples and oranges.
 
Back
Top