Junk Food Advertisements Are Intentionally Targeting Vulnerable Children, Leading To An Increase In Childhood Obesity

Every day, millions of children are unknowingly being influenced by the food advertisements that they see on TV. Fifty percent of all the ad time on children's shows consists of food ads, so with the average child in the U.S. watching three to four hours of television a day, it is no surprise that children are very familiar with these ads. However, what these children are unaware of is that these ads are almost completely dominated by unhealthy food products. The Kaiser Family Foundation published a study on the distribution of types of food ads on TV targeted at children or teens. The following pie chart displays their findings.

Since the majority of foods advertised at children are sugar-filled, with little to no nutritious value, children have developed unhealthy food preferences. This has led to an increase in the amount of junk food that children consume, and thus, an increase in childhood obesity. An expert committee from the Institute of Medicine conducted a study on the relationship between food marketing and children's diets. The committee found that "Television advertising influences the food preferences, purchase requests, and diets, at least of children under age 12 years, and is associated with the increased rates of obesity among children and youth."

Clearly, junk food ads are having a big impact on children's diets. To understand why children are so influenced by these ads, one must look at the persuasive techniques used in advertisements. To children, junk food advertisements may seem harmless, but in reality, these ads are distorting their perception of a healthy diet and leading to childhood obesity.

Movie and TV characters, toys, and games attract children to junk food ads
Amna Kirmani, a marketing professor at the University of Maryland, is an expert on advertising and the persuasive techniques used in ads. In the following interview, she explains a variety of techniques that advertisers use to attract children.

One of the main ways that the junk food industry targets children is by including popular movie or TV characters in their advertisements. For instance, Baskin Robbin's ice-cream flavor of the month uses characters from the Disney movie, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas. In addition, advertisements for pop tarts show Disney princesses such as Cinderella and TV characters like SpongeBob, in order to attract children to their product.

Burger King lures kids in by giving them crowns and toys.

Associating toys and games with junk food products are also a common technique that advertisers use to target children. McDonald's Happy Meals come with toys associated with popular children's movies like Monster Inc., Tarzan, and Peter Pan. Burger King kid's meals come in a "BK Crown Activity Box," which contains word searches, mazes, and other activities that kids love. These activities are also found on many cereal boxes, such as Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Fruit Loops, and Apple Jacks (all of which are very high in sugar).




Junk food ads are easily able to persuade vulnerable children into buying their products

The younger generation does not have the same awareness and experience as adults. When children view a junk food advertisement, they are so absorbed in the positive aspects of it (the smiling faces of children eating the food or the image of their favorite movie character on the food packaging) that they do not see the health risks associated with the food. According to the American Psychological Association, children under 5 years old cannot consistently distinguish program from commercial content. In addition, children under the age of 8 do not understand the persuasive intent of advertising. Therefore, young children are very easy targets when it comes to junk food advertising. 

The APA also found that product preference is established after just one commercial exposure and is strengthened each time the child is exposed to the product. For instance, once a child sees a commercial for a McDonald's happy meal, and hears the "I'm lovin' it" slogan, they establish a preference for McDonald's food. Once they start eating this unhealthy food, they begin to desire foods of a similar content. The problem is, high-calorie foods can be addictive (Natural Neuroscience, 2010). This addictive factor causes children to consume excess amounts of junk food, and, if not stopped by parents, leads to childhood obesity. 

Parents can reduce their child's exposure to junk food ads by setting TV restrictions
Although junk food ads are to blame for persuading children to eat unhealthy food, parents are the ones actually purchasing this food for their children. When a child constantly begs their mother for McDonald's, it is only natural that their mother will give in every so often. However, this demand for fast food can be eliminated, or at least lessened, if the child is not exposed to as many fast food ads. There is still a debate over whether or not restrictions should be made on the TV air time for junk food ads, especially on children's networks. In an interview with Amna Kirmani, a marketing professor at the University of Maryland, Prof. Kirmani gives her stance on the debate.

Regardless of the regulations that the advertising industry must follow, any child who watches television will be exposed to junk food ads. However, parents can reduce this exposure by limiting the amount of TV that their children watch. They can restrict their child's TV watching to no more than two hours a day, and to avoid persuasive junk food ads, they can DVR shows so that their child can fast forward through the commercials. A study by the University of Michigan found that children who regularly watched TV commercials consumed more junk food, and had a distorted view of healthy portion sizes, than households that watched commercial free TV. 

Junk food ads are always going to exist in our world, so it is up to parents to monitor the amount of commercial TV that their children watch. The persuasive techniques used in these ads brainwash children into believing that their product is "healthy," when in reality, most of these products contain tons of sugar and are high in fat. If children continue to watch junk food ads, and parents don't restrict their child's diet, childhood obesity rates will, unfortunately, continue to increase. 

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