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Article: Two independent studies blame obesity problem on food advertising directed at young children.
- Article from:
- Food & Drink Weekly
- Article date:
- March 1, 2004
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Informa Economics, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Thousands of advertisements for candy and sugary foods help fuel the epidemic of childhood obesity in America, a pair of new studies asserts. The Kaiser Family Foundation said in a study released Tuesday that the main mechanism through which the media contribute to childhood obesity is through billions of dollars worth of advertising. "The number of ads children see on TV has doubled from 20,000 to 40,000 since the 1970s, and the majority of ads targeted to kids are for candy, cereal and fast food," the Foundation said. It reported that 15.3 percent of children aged six to 11 were listed as overweight in 1999-2000, compared to 4.2 percent in 1963-1970.
Meanwhile, ...