Adverts for food do increase snacking say scientists

The research appears in the July issue of the journal Health Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association. In one experiment, seven to 11-year-old children who watched a cartoon that included food commercials ate 45% more snack food while watching the show than children who watched the same cartoon with non-food commercials. From only a half hour of television viewing a day, the increase in snacking caused by food advertising would lead to a weight gain of nearly 10 pounds a year, unless mitigated by reduced consumption of other foods or increased physical activity. In a second experiment, the researchers found that adult participants exposed to unhealthy food advertisements in TV programming also ate significantly more than those who saw ads with a nutrition or healthy food message. Additionally, these effects persisted after the television viewing. In the experiments with both children and adults, food advertising increased eating for all available foods, even foods that were not specifically presented in the advertisements. Lead author Jennifer Harris, PhD, director of marketing initiatives at the Rudd Centre for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale, said: "This research shows a direct and powerful link between television food advertising and calories consumed by adults and children. Food advertising triggers automatic eating, regardless of hunger, and is a significant contributor to the obesity epidemic. Reducing unhealthy food advertising to children is critical."