Childhood Obesity and Advertising

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Child obesity
Childhood obesity and advertising
References

Introduction

Obesity in children has become a major concern in most parts of the world. This escalation in the rate at which the young generation is being affected by the scourge has prompted the urge of answering questions concerning the causes of obesity and its possible preventive measures.

While this is the case, some theorists and experts believe that there exists a relationship between obesity and junk food, which is widely advertised through the media. This essay explores the relationship between obesity in children and marketing of junk food.

Child obesity

Before discussing the relationship between child obesity and marketing of junk food through the media, it is paramount to understand the meaning of obesity and some of its effects in human beings, especially in children. In its simplicity, obesity refers to a case where one has excess body fat.

Although there is no conventional definition of child obesity, many nutritionists base their definition on body mass index, commonly denoted as BMI (CDC 2012). In other cases, child obesity is described as body weight that is higher than the normal weight of a child with the same height by at least 20%.

Unlike in previous years when cases of obesity were rare, it has become one of the most common health complications affecting young people in America and several First World countries. According to the American Obesity Association, approximately fifteen percent of adolescents and children in the United States are obese, with the number expected to rise (American Psychological Association 2012).

Why should the world be bothered with child obesity? The truth of the matter is that obesity has a wide range of effects, which make it a global health threat. Obesity exposes victims to health, social and emotional problems, which may haunt them throughout their lives (CDC 2012). Additionally, obese children have a higher likelihood of developing obesity when they advance into adulthood.

This exposes them to severe and fatal health complications like heart attack, diabetes and high blood pressure. In this line of thought, there are several factors, which are believed to cause child obesity in the world today.

They include genetic, dietary habits, socioeconomic factors and lack of exercises (American Psychological Association 2012). On the other hand, marketing of junk food has been associated with the rising cases of child obesity in America and around the world. The following segment explains this relationship between media ads and dietary habits in children.

Childhood obesity and advertising

Due to the advancement in technology, 21^st century children are exposed to a wide range of media and are known to spend a lot of time in front of television sets, computers and video game screens. According to the American Psychological Association, there is a direct connection between junk food adverts and increasing levels of obesity among children (American Psychological Association 2012).

This is based on the fact that young children, who have become active media customers, do not have the ability to draw a line between advertising and programming (Lovelock, Patterson & Wirtz 2011). Additionally, children below the age of eight years do not understand why junk food companies make adverts with a persuasive intention.

As a result, many psychologists argue that junk food adverts, which target children within such vulnerable age groups is exploitative. Unlike adults, children are known to have extraordinary ability to remember media content, which they feed on (‘Are Commercials Making You a Junk-Food Freak’ 2010).

Notably, it has been found that children gain specific product preference with even a single advert, and this increases when repetitive ads are displayed by the media. Consequently, the preferences affect tastes among children and their requests to parents, which end up influencing their budget decisions (Lovelock, Patterson & Wirtz 2011).

Unlike adults who are bombarded with an array of ads ranging from clothing to cars, children are always exposed to high concentration of junk food ads. According to research, 32% of junk adverts usually carry candy foods, 31% cereals and 9% fast food content (Caroli et al. 2004).

Although it might sound unrealistic to some people, researchers have found out that up to eleven food adverts can be aired in one hour especially during weekend morning shows on television, when most children are at home. These results imply that a child in such environment is exposed to one junk food advert in every five minutes of his or her TV watching (Lovelock, Patterson & Wirtz 2011).

One common feature in most junk stuffs advertised is the insufficiency of body nutrients. Although initial foodstuffs had high levels of sugar, these have been replaced with snack foods, which are known to have high-fat content.

While most of the researches done on the impact of junk ads on children are rarely made public, it has clearly been proven that TV adverts affect purchase preferences for most children around the world (Lovelock, Patterson & Wirtz 2011). Amazingly, fast food companies spent unbelievable amount of money on junk adverts, which strictly target children within the vulnerable age bracket.

Many marketing executives believe that children under the age of twelve years can spend $35 billion of their cash and influence over $200 billion of household expenditure.

In essence, marketers believe that the current generation is a huge consumer group, which can draw the attention of any business-oriented person as a target market. As a result, children and young adults spend a lot of their money and influence people around them, including parents, siblings and friends to spend on junk products (Caroli et al. 2004).

Although parents may have their influence, it has been found that junk ads have boosted the ability of kids to convince their parents and influence their purchase patterns. In addition, the time spent by children watching television is usually proportional to their influence and the frequency of requesting for junk foods from parents (‘Are Commercials Making You a Junk-Food Freak’ 2010).

This implies that the amount of commercial ads, which a child is exposed to, is principal in influencing their feeding and preference trends. Importantly, requests made by children while moving around in a supermarket with parents or siblings have a higher likelihood of influencing purchases made than those made elsewhere (Lovelock, Patterson & Wirtz 2011).

In some cases, children who are as young as three years old get influenced by TV adverts through their parents’ decisions. Parents with such young children expose their children to high-caloric products, which are commonly advertised on television. In some experiments with different sets of foods such as junk and fruits, children preferred those foods, which they were frequently exposed to (Lovelock, Patterson & Wirtz 2011).

This is to say that those who get exposed to balanced meals end up adopting proper eating habits. Moreover, marketers tend to embed junk commercials with images of items mostly preferred by children. For example, common junk ads carry famous cartoons to win the attention of children and influence their choice of food.

In the context of junk foods and commercials, it is essential to analyze how media personalities, celebrities and role models influence the eating habits of many children in the world. In recent studies, it has been found that there is a steady increase in the number of junk ads, which are being done by TV and movie characters.

As a result, most fast food outlets concentrate on ads that carry public personalities, which are highly recognized by young children (Lovelock, Patterson & Wirtz 2011). To further the attention of children and parents, McDonald’s has partnered with Disney to allow the use of Disney toys in marketing its Happy Meals.

Another way through which adverts promote poor eating habits and childhood obesity is through media presentation of body images. In most cases, televisions, movies and magazines have preferred thinner bodies as compared to natural and healthy body images, a trend that has been known to influence children and young adults.

This negative representation causes children to ignore healthy eating, especially when thin and celebrated characters feature adverts (Lovelock, Patterson & Wirtz 2011). This analogy concurs with research findings, linking poor eating disorders to media ads.

As a matter of fact, the influence occurs since children receive contradicting dietary messages, regarding healthy eating and the definition of an ideal body image in the world today. From such ads, the impression generated is the desire for a thinner body, coupled with fatty, sugary and salty foodstuffs, which are significantly blamed for rising cases of obesity (Caroli et al. 2004).

From this analysis, it is evident that marketing of junk food contributes to increasing cases of child obesity in the world today. Coupled with massive usage of digital media, children spent a lot of their time watching TV shows, which are flooded with junk food commercials (Lovelock, Patterson & Wirtz 2011).

It therefore presents a complex problem in finding a solution, which may involve law makers, junk food manufactures, media owners and parents.

References

American Psychological Association 2012, The Impact of food advertising on Childhood obesity. Web.

‘Are Commercials Making You a Junk-Food Freak?’ 2010, Scholastic Scope, vol. 59 no. 7, pp. 14-15.

Caroli, M, Argentieri, L, Cardone, M & Masi, A 2004, ‘Role of television in childhood obesity prevention’, International Journal of Obesity & Related Metabolic Disorders, vol. 28 no. 1, pp. 104-108.

CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2012. Web.

Lovelock, H, Patterson, P & Wirtz, J 2011, Services marketing: an Asia Pacific and Australian perspective, Pearson Australia, Frenchs Forest, NSW.

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Childhood Obesity and Advertising

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