Medicine

New report suggests link between TV ads and teens' snack patterns

January 17, 2018 03:53·
Teen snacking is thought to be a cause of obesity

Teen snacking is thought to be a cause of obesity

The study found that teenagers who watch more than three hours of ads on TV a day are twice more likely to indulge in hundreds of extra unhealthy junk foods that are high in calories, fat and sugar content - like crisps, biscuits, energy and fizzy drinks.

Regularly eating high-calorie food and drink - which are usually high in fat and sugar - increases the risk of becoming overweight or obese, with obesity the second biggest preventable cause of cancer in the United Kingdom after smoking, being linked to 13 types of cancer including bowel, breast, and pancreatic.

TV ads make teenagers likely to crave junk food, according to a survey for Cancer Research UK.

The report, said to be the "biggest ever United Kingdom study" to assess the association between TV viewing and diet, found that teens who said they regularly streamed TV shows with ads were more than twice as likely (139%) to drink fizzy drinks than someone with low exposure to TV adverts. It's been ten years since the first, and only, TV junk food marketing regulations were introduced by Ofcom and they're seriously out of date.

Celebrities and "licenced characters" are also banned from advertising unhealthy food targeted at young children.

Obesity is the second biggest preventable cause of cancer in the United Kingdom after smoking, and is linked to 13 types of cancer including bowel, breast, and pancreatic.

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The research team questioned 3,348 young people, aged between 11 to 19 years, on their TV viewing habits and diet and found no link between teenagers who watched TV without commercials and eating more junk food, indicating that only TV ads may be driving youngsters to snack on more unhealthy food.

Professor Russell Viner, of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said the study showed the power of advertising, and Caroline Cerny, of the Obesity Health Alliance, added: 'Companies wouldn't spend so much on advertising junk food if they didn't think it worked'.

Another researcher Linda Bauld said, "Obese children are five times more likely to remain obese as adults which can increase their risk of cancer later in life".

The Alliance has said: "Failing to tackle obesity means failing our children, and if today's figures tell us anything, it's that there's a long way to go before the battle is won".

"It's time our young people anxious about being children again and not the aches and pains of joints, about their body image or about risks associated with their high blood pressure or diabetes".

Prescribed in their millions to the middle-aged and elderly to lower cholesterol, the drugs were thought to have side effects that would pose a risk to youngsters. Now, we can offer parents of children with the condition further comfort that the treatment is safe to take from a young age'.

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