Media's Influence On Childhood Obesity

Commercials through television and radio aimed towards children are ethical because it helps build healthy ideals. Through commercials, children can see that doing certain things are good for you! They can see that it is what they should do. “Advertising and marketing techniques could encourage children to eat

Childhood obesity is a significant concern among adolescents today. In the article, “The Impact of Food Advertising on Childhood Obesity” published by the American Psychological Association, expressed the effects of advertising on youth. The American Psychological Association explained, “Almost three out of every four foods advertised to children falls into the unhealthy categories that contribute to the obesity epidemic”. Children ranging from ages, eight to eighteen, consume on average about 45 hours of various types of media per week. The link between childhood obesity and advertisement

Although seeing one’s favorite celebrity on television can be exciting for children, it can lead to a misunderstanding between the child and the representation of the product. For example, in the article “Kids Finally Speak on Celebrity-Based Ads for Food and Beverages,” the authors state that children can misunderstand a product that is unhealthy for them as a product that can make them as fit and healthy as their idol. Although celebrities are useful in the marketing strategies used in business on a daily basis one must look closely at the impact the advertisement will have on the target audience. This impact includes health impacts on the children today and the future generations to come. For the reasons that follow, celebrities should not advertise or endorse products that are unhealthy for children or teenagers because the motivation of the celebrities to endorse such products are in question and children are

Media coverage contributes to how childhood obesity is framed and stigmatized in Canadian society. The media contributes to changes in popular culture, which can affect how the dilemma of childhood obesity is viewed and addressed. Several forms of media, including campaigns, social media, and the news help to construct popular opinions when looking at the issue. The views provided by different media platforms and organizations help to frame the problem of childhood obesity, and address the problems associated with the dilemma.

The rate of childhood obesity is growing at a rapid rate across the globe, creating concerns as obesity leads on to other serious illnesses including diabetes, heart disease, hyperinsulinaemia (an excessive amount of insulin in the blood), hyperlipidaemia (high number of lipoproteins in the blood) and hypertension (extremely high blood pressure) (Cole et al, 2000).

Often, parents take young children to fast food restaurants because it is the cheapest or easiest option they know. This habit follows kids long after their grade school years and into adolescence and adulthood, and education programs can teach parents easy and healthy habits to instill in their children early in life. Liz Szabo explains the prevalence of fast food consumption in children and the worsening of unhealthy habits as they grow into teenagers in “Kids Consume 12% of Their Calories from Fast Food” by stating, “Adolescents ages 12 to 19 years old got 17% or more of their calories from fast food in 2010-2011, compared with 9% of children ages 2 to 11 years old, the report found.” These statistics prove that while parents may feel that a few meals from a fast food restaurant is a simple compromise that will not affect their children severely, in the long run their kids will struggle with the habit. Implementing government funded education into schools will help to demonstrate to parents and students alike that childhood obesity is not as simple as eating less and exercising more, and that one does not need to spend a lot of time and money in order to be

The reason why people are obese is because the media encourages them to bad eating habits. The media uses a variety of food commercials where the food they show, is unhealthy and at a very low price. That causes the viewers to pay attention to the commercial and give them ideas to buy the product. Another issue with the media and obesity is because people have become lazier till this day. People don't go out to parks and participate in extra curriculum activities no more. All they do is eat, work, and watch TV. Well, most of the people. The lack doing any type of exercise while eating excessively causes the body to gain fat in its system. Students at some schools are being taught bad habits of food eating as well. For

It is amazing that we work with children and help them to build their future but the road is Not that easy Because in everydays life we face major issues that are critical. Some of these issues that I believe Has a huge impact on the child’s life are divorce, child obesity, and the media culture.

Obesity rates in the United States are rapidly increasing, it is up to the people of the United States to induce change. However, to do this, the people need the government to play a role in reducing the obesity rates. According to the food sector of the United Nations (an inter governmental organization that promotes, protects, and improves international cooperation since 1945) “Obesity was once considered only a problem in high-income countries like the United States, where nearly 70 percent of the adult population is overweight” (Roussev 60). Interestingly enough, individuals consumption of media and the lack of following a diet plan makes up a majority of the 70 percent. All of which is a result of making a personal choice to indulge in

There are some specific and real problems that advertising can cause upon children (William A. Ramsey). Fast-food restaurant advertising it’s influencing our children to be obese. Childhood obesity around the world is causing worries, especially detrimental as its effect carries on into parenthood. The ratio of children 's who are overweight has approximately tripled in the same period, reaching fourteen percent (Center for disease control

About a third of children in the U.S. are considered overweight or obese, and researchers believe television advertising is a significant contributing factor (4). Exposure to television advertising is basically universal and the ads present foods as desirable and attractive. Children have been shown to be far more receptive to television advertising messages than classroom lessons (3). It leaves a harder lasting impression on them because the food products are presented in a cool, fun way that attracts children. Most of the time, children would pick foods that they may not even like, simply because they think it’s the cool thing to eat and once a kid gets his mind set on what they want, it is very hard to steer them away from wanting it. Television ads for foods geared toward children are usually fun, and bright with animations and lots of cool characters that the children can relate to. This directly influences the child’s food preference and unfortunately most of these ads are for processed, unhealthy food products like cereals, snacks, fast food, and soft drinks. In the U.S., there are few restrictions on food ads, but that's not the case in the U.K., where junk food can't be marketed on children's television (4).

Advertisements can be quite difficult for anyone to fully comprehend. As we get older, we generally gather enough information to know whether or not most of the advertisements that we see on a regular basis should be taken seriously or not. That is not to say, however, that we don’t still get trapped in their webs, it just means that we become a little harder to trap. Although most adults understand the purpose of advertisements, children do not have that luxury. For this very same reason, children are becoming progressively more targeted in company’s ad campaigns, even for ads that should not have anything to do with them. In my own life, for example, I can think of numerous instances where advertisements and the media have affected the purchases of others. Since watching the Consuming Kids video, I have been much more aware of the different tactics that advertisement companies use on the general population in order to get them to continue their spending at an unprecedented rate.

First, influence from food advertisements can have an effect on childhood eating habits today. Kids see 10 to 13 food advertisements a day, on average. Of these advertisements, 90% of them are considered unhealthy (Kohn). In addition, the American Psychological Association found that kids that are under age 6 “...cannot distinguish between programming and advertising...” and that children under the age of 8 “...do not understand the persuasive intent of advertising.” This means that children are more sensitive to the effects of food advertisements when compared to adults. These sensitivities were even more prevalent in a study by Elsevier Health Sciences. In the study, kids were more likely to

Government has obligation to intervene advertising to children and teenagers. First, the influence of advertising is unavoidable for publics. It is estimated that Australian children are exposed to more than 40,000 commercials per annum. With an unprecedented frequency and intensity, these ads not only creates children’s intention to purchase a singular product, but also potentially influenced their lifestyle, eating habits and purchasing preference. (MacKay, 2009) Secondly, given children’s vulnerability that they are lack of cognitive capacity to distinguish ads from reality, they are more easily influenced by advertising than adults (MacKay, 2009). A research on influence of food advertising on preschool children showed that children exposed to videotape with commercials were significantly more likely to choose the advertised item

Food advertisements, if focused at the right people and in the right places, are a complete success. These features, some of which are commercials, seduce society into buying food that we necessarily do not need. Many advertisement companies, especially those about food, are directed to children because they know that if you grab the kids you have their parents. While brands are using fun cartoons like “Trix Rabbit” and “Toucan Sam” (Green, 2007, p. 49) supermarkets are taking these items and placing them right in front of the children, at their level, advertising the “Fun foods” (Elliot, 2008, p. 259-273). They do this so the kids will use their, “pester power” (Scholsser, n.d., p. 2) to get what they want. A series of studies have been performed on children and television advertisements. An article states, “These studies have generally linked children's television viewing to negative health effects” (Korr, 2008, p. 451). Amongst these negative effects is a higher level of childhood obesity (p. 451). Similarly, in another study performed by a group of researchers, kids were asked to explain the television commercials that they remembered the best. The answers given were then compared with their diets. Interestingly, the items those children remembered best, chips, sweets, and sodas were a huge part of what they ate (Hitching & Moynihan, 1998, p. 511-517). However, some authors argue that television producer’s, even though their