Junk food ads entice kids but parents can still make them eat healthy: Study

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDOct 9 2011

A new study showed that food advertisements influence what children want to eat but healthy messages from parents may help to temper the influence.

The team of researchers conducted an experiment where 75 children between ages 3 and 8 years were allowed to choose a coupon for apple slices or French fries that they saw advertised during cartoons. The parents were randomly assigned to follow a script that advised the children to select the healthier food or the food the child wanted the most.

Results showed that among the children who saw the commercial for fries, 71 per cent chose the coupon for French fries if their parents remained neutral, compared with 55 per cent who opted for the fries coupon if their parents encouraged them to choose the healthy food.

Among the children who saw the commercial for apple slices, 46 per cent chose the coupon for French fries if their parents were neutral, while 33 per cent picked the coupon for fries if their parents encouraged them to choose the apple slices.

“Children were clearly influenced by the commercials they saw; however, parents are not powerless,” said study author Dr. Christopher Ferguson of Texas A&M International University. “Parents have an advantage if they are consistent with their long-term messages about healthy eating,” he added.

Parents said their children watched at least three hours of TV a day on average. Given this relatively frequent amount, the potential impact on healthy eating and the potential for obesity “probably should not be ignored,” the study's authors said. Watching TV was not predictive of children's excess weight, and the researchers acknowledged the finding was based on a very small sample and should be interpreted with caution.

The sample of 75 families included mainly Hispanics, so the findings many not apply across the board, the researchers said. The power of fries shouldn't be discounted, either. Even the crunchiest apple slice may not be as appetizing as a salty fried slice of potato.

“My biggest concern is that parents will think this study suggests they’re powerless in the face of advertisements,” Ferguson said. “That's not the case at all.” “Food advertisements directed at children may have a small but meaningful effect on their healthy food choices,” Ferguson's team concluded.

The study appears in the Journal of Pediatrics.

It may not be easy, but one way to lessen the power of food commercials, especially the high-fat, high-calorie sugary ads that dominate children's programming is to limit daily screen time to 1 or 2 hours to reduce kids’ exposure to food advertisements and any negative nutrition consequences that may stem from them, suggests Sarah Krieger, R.D., a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.

Ferguson added, “Although more research is needed, I suspect that charting a good course for your children means making more healthful choices yourself. That doesn’t mean we have to be perfect, but even small efforts to make more healthy food choices and to exercise more can pay dividends for the family down the road.”