Should There Be Laws About Fast Food Commercials?
There's no question that we're living in a "Fast Food Nation," but a recent study gives us a little more insight into why Americans have evolved into McDonald's-and-pizza obsessed eaters: it's your TV. "The vast majority of the foods that kids see advertised on television today are for products that nutritionists would tell us they need to be eating less of, not more of, if we're going to get a handle on childhood obesity," Vicki Rideout of the Kaiser Family Foundation (a health research organization) told CNN.
The study found that teens see 17 food commercials every day. (That's 6,000 per year!) But it's not Dole Fruits or Chiquita Banana cramming the airwaves -- 34 percent of the ads targeted at young people were for candy and snacks, 29 percent for cereal, and 10 percent for fast food. And there's not much on TV that combats these ads' effects: teens only see one public service announcement for every 130 food ads.
In December 2005, the Institute of Medicine advocated for companies to emphasize healthier food in their ads. Since then, 10 major food and drink makers have agreed to devote at least half their advertising directed to young people to promote healthier diets and lifestyles -- but we haven't seen it yet...
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