TV Ads Linked To Unhealthy Diets

A new study says fast food and alcohol advertising on television has a negative influence on young people's weight and is a factor in underage drinking.

Risk of obesity rose 3% among 15-to-23 year olds for each fast-food chain ad they remembered or liked. The survey was by Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H. Greater familiarity with alcohol ads also boosted the likelihood that teens had already started drinking and correlated with higher levels of intake in a second analysis from the same group at Dartmouth.

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Tags: beverages, food
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2 comments about "TV Ads Linked To Unhealthy Diets ".
  1. Paula Lynn from Who Else Unlimited, April 30, 2012 at 7:14 p.m.

    If the tobacco companies had to pay for anti-smoking campaigns while still reeling in huge profits, how about the same treatment for alcohol and fast food (including sugary drinks and cereal) ? (Of course lobbyists!)

  2. John Grono from GAP Research, April 30, 2012 at 7:56 p.m.

    While I have no doubt that there is a link between advertising and such social habits, this research has NOT demonstrated causality in a quantifiable way. For example, the research could be repeated testing other ads and find links between (say) recall of banking or automotive advertising and an increased incidence of obesity risk. One would be a fool to suggest that increased recall to a banking ad makes you fat! What one could surmise (again, it would need empirical evidence of causality to definitively say this) is that people who have high levels of advertising recall are probably the 'couch-potatoes' who tend to be sedentary and not get enough exercise, and that it is the lifestyle rather than the recall that is the root cause.