Media Impact
Impact of the Media on Childhood Obesity
Through a variety of ways, the media has an impact on the health of our children. Since the average child's day includes several hours of "screen time," the typical child sees about 40,000 ads a year on TV. Food companies advertise and market junk foods and fast foods to children, with soda, fast food, candy and cereal the most common ads targeted to kids. Also, television and movies portray slim and sexy as the ideal body image. Poor self esteem, poor body image, early dieting and eating disorders can result.
Below are some links that further address how the media impacts the health of our children, including strategies and solutions.
- Food Marketing and Advertising Directed at Children and Adolescents: Implications for Overweight, Resolution of the American Public Health Association, October 2003. www.ipha.com/downloads/food%20marketing.pdf
- The Role of the Media in Childhood Obesity, Kaiser Family Foundation, February 2004. www.kff.org/entmedia/entmedia022404pkg.cfm
- Pestering Parents: How Food Companies Market Obesity to Children, Center for Science in the Public Interest, November 2003 www.cspinet.org/new/pdf/pestering_parents_final_part_1.pdf and www.cspinet.org/new/pdf/pestering_parents_final_part_2.pdf
