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Michelle Tran Rogers Writing 2010 March 28, 2013 Junk and Fast Food Advertisements Advertisements are everywhere. They litter stores and streets in form of billboards and posters. Even at home, advertisements swarm the television, and computer. Some of the most frequent types of advertisements are junk food and fast food advertisements. Because they are so frequent, children and young adults are exposed to them every day. This allows more exposure to unhealthy foods and the development of poor nutritional self-awareness. Researches agree that junk food and fast food advertisements cause several problems even if accepted by todays society. Sources such as Rebecca Boulos and Simone Keller talk about how advertisements in television are one of the main reasons why children and adolescents are obese. Boulos talks about advertising statistics, and the long-term effects that unhealthy advertising pose on children and concludes Long-term exposure to this distortion of the pyramid of recommended food should be considered in the discussion of legal restrictions for food advertising targeting children (Keller). Boulos expands on the problems associated with obesity and links it to watching television while providing some possible explanations. Some explanations are 1) watching television acts as a sedentary replacement for physical activity; 2) food advertisements for nutrient-poor, high-calorie foods stimulate food intake; and 3) television viewing is associated with mindless eating (Boulos). Obesity is a variable term; it depends on the individuals body type and environment. Authors Patricia Anderson and Kristin Butcher note the

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trends in obesity and examine possible causes. Typically, obesity and overweight in adults are defined in terms of body mass index (BMI), which in turn is defined as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared (kg/m2) (Anderson and Butcher). This is the standard measurement of obesity, but, again, it depends on the individual. Boulos focuses on the factual side of obesity, stating its health concerns and the prevalence of the condition in young adults and children. She says,This rise in obesity has been accompanied by increases in a host of other chronic illnesses, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and cancer (Boulos). Boulos talks about how obesity has more problems than just being overweight, and television causes a rise in children obesity. Younger members of our society also spend a considerable amount of time in front of the television. By three months of age, 40% of infants have been exposed to television; by 24 months of age, 90% are regularly watching it (Boulos). By spending more time, the children are influenced by the advertisements and are more likely to lead a sedentary lifestyle. This sedentary lifestyle increases the chance of obesity. By increasing the chance obesity, it can cause health concerns that Boulos has listed. This leads back to Moss talking about how advertisements influence children. As a culture, weve become upset by the tobacco companies advertising to children, but we sit idly by while the food companies do the very same thing. And we could make a claim that the toll taken on the public health by a poor diet rivals that taken by tobacco (Moss). Moss talks about how food companies are taking advantage of children. One means of taking advantage of children is through advertising. Here, Keller talks about the analysis of advertisement watching in Switzerland and how many of the advertisements (junk and fast food) targeted kids. Between March and August 2006, 1365 h of kids TV programme were recorded and 11613 commercials were found and analysed. Of them, 3061 were for food (26%) consisting of 335 different commercials, 2696 promoted toys (23%),

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followed by those of media, cleaning products, cosmetics and other goods (Keller). Keller is concerned about how, during children shows, advertisers promote unhealthy products to unsuspecting children. This is linked to Moss talking about how, Mudd [Vice President of Kraft] proposed creating a code to guide the nutritional aspects of food marketing, especially to children (Moss). Moss is interested because food manufacturers are blamed for the obesity problem by the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society and more, and that there is a trick to selling products to children. Moss believes they are not seen as individuals, but as a chance of profit. The claims this is one of the reason why television is linked to childhood obesity. Keller expands on the relation of television and childhood obesity with, But TV viewing has been firmly linked to childhood obesity. It is not yet clear how much of this accepted effect is due to advertising exposure and how much is due to reduced energy expenditure during TV watching, but some evidence suggests that the latter does not play a significant role (Keller). Both sources agree that television is a direct link to obesity. However, Boulos focuses more on the illnesses and diseases that accompanies obesity. Keller is more oriented with how advertisements target children during prime hours, and the amount of time the children are exposed. Moss talks about how advertisements take advantage of children and is less concerned with the relationship of television and childhood obesity.

Patricia Anderson and Kristin Butcher talk about the trends and potential causes in childhood obesity. While fast food advertisements play a major role in selling the products, do the products themselves harm the general public? They agree that, Fast food is a common subject of such studies. Cross-sectional studies have established that individuals consuming fastfood meals have higher energy intake with lower nutritional values than those not consuming fast food.Such a finding, however, does not guarantee that children consuming more fast food will be

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more likely to be overweight (Anderson and Butcher). They say that fast food is widely agreed to be a cause for childhood obesity, yet they believe that it isnt a guarantee for children to become overweight if they do consume more fast food. Contrary to popular belief, the food itself may not guarantee a direct path to obesity. If that is so, how does watching television constitute as a direct link to obesity? Keller talked about how, after media exposure, children were more likely to buy the products. This link may not guarantee obesity, but it does set potential catalysts. Although Anderson and Butcher talk about fast food not guaranteeing obesity, studies show a link between the two. They say that, More recently, however, a long-term study of preschoolers has found a positive link between all sweet beverages (including soda, juice, and other fruit drinks) and overweight (Anderson and Butcher). Looking through a long-term perspective in their cross-sectional studies, the consumption of the products sold by advertisements are linked to obesity later in life. Anderson and Butcher examined cross-sectional studies on the consumption of fast foods, which could be linked to advertisements in a media. Keller says the media causes the children to buy more unhealthy products, and Anderson and Butcher also agree that without promotional activities and exposure, the general public would not be aware enough to purchase these products that are shown to be linked to obesity (albeit long-term). Keller again focuses more on the media and statistics, while Anderson and Butcher focuses on cross-sectional studies and the relationship between obesity and the actual product being advertised. What makes advertisements so appealable to children and adolescents? Is it the taste of the product thats being advertised or is it how the product is portrayed? Innovations in food technology have made the product more appealable. However processed foods are unhealthy. Cawley believes that processed food is involved with obesity. Cawley talks about processed food

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in his article, David Cutler, Edward Glaeser, and Jesse Shapiro argue that innovations in food processing, preservation, and packaging made it possible for food to be mass prepared far from the place of consumption and to be consumed with less time cost. These innovations contributed to a shift away from home-cooked meals toward processed food, thus increasing obesity. In support of their argument, the researchers show that consumption of mass-produced foods increased the most, that people most able to take advantage of these technological changes had the greatest increases in weight, and that obesity is greatest in countries where people have the greatest access to processed food (Cawley). Cawley knows that processed food is linked to childhood obesity. Not only is the actual product manipulated, its presentation is manipulated as well. Mcdonalds released a video showing the photoshoot and photoshopping of its products. Wehner talks about how advertisements are made to be appealing, Everything from the bun to the condiments is placed specifically to show off the best side of the burger, and the company even uses image manipulation gurus to remove any blemishes that may have occurred during the preparation. Of course, this means you'll never actually score a meal that looks exactly like the one you saw in a TV or magazine ad, but the company insists that all the ingredients in its fast food meals are identical to the ones used in its advertisements (Wehner). Wehner reveals the process behind what makes McDonalds products so appealable. This raises the chances of consumers purchasing their products. In turn, this makes societys youth and adolescents want to buy their products as well. If it is so aesthetically pleasing, societys gullible people will fall for the bait first. This is one of the methods that advertisements in television use to lure them in, and linked to Moss opinion of how advertisements take advantage of people, specifically children. Wehner and Moss both agree that advertisements take advantage of their viewers, although Wehner expands on a specific method. Cawley talks about the actual food being manipulated and

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can only be loosely linked to Wehners article of how the food is visually manipulated. This is also an indirect link for childhood obesity. The aesthetic appeal of the product makes the consumer want to buy it, and in turn, raises the chance of obesity. The processed food described by Cawley only raises the chance for obesity. Advertisements are prevalent in todays society. Television is one of the biggest media outlet for advertisements, with billions of people being exposed to corporate products daily. This provides a higher chance of the consumer buying said advertised corporate products. Many researchers have agreed that television is a direct link to obesity and that todays youth are susceptible to leading an unhealthy lifestyle and promotes nutritional unawareness. Regardless, these advertisements have been accepted as a social norm in modern society. Researchers agree that junk food and fast food advertisements cause several problems even though they are accepted.

Work Cited Anderson, Patricia, and Kristin Butcher. "Childhood Obesity: Trends and Potential Causes." Princeton University. 16.1 (2006): 19-45. Print. Boulos, Rebecca. "ObesiTV: How television is influencing the obesity epidemic." 107.1 (2012):

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146-153. Print. <http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.lib.utah.edu/science/article/pii/S0031938412002090>. Cawley, . "Markets and Childhood Obesity." 16.1 (2006): 69-88. Print. Keller, Simone. "Distorted food pyramid in kids programmes: A content analysis of television advertising watched in Switzerland." European Journal of Public Health. 21.3 (2011): 300-305. Print. Moss, Michael. "The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food." New York Times. New York Times, 20 Feb 2013. Web. 7 May 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/the-extraordinary-science-of-junkfood.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0>. Wehner, Mike. "McDonalds reveals the ridiculous process of preparing food for commercials." Yahoo: Today in Tech. Yahoo, 21 Jun 2012. Web. 7 May 2013. <http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/mcdonald-reveals-ridiculous-process-preparingfood-commercials-195601684.html>.