Unhealthy food advertising plays an important role in childhood obesity, researchers say.
According to Dr. Amanda S. Bruce and colleagues from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the University of Kansas Medical Center, U.S. companies spend more than $10 billion annually to market their food and beverages to children and nearly 98 percent of food advertising on television is high in fat, sugar or sodium.
For proving the link between food advertising and childhood obesity, researchers examined 20 children- healthy and obese, aged between 10 and 14, with the help of functional magnetic resonance imaging. Children's self-control was measured through self-reports.
Researchers displayed 60 food logos and 60 non-food logos in front of the children to find out their brain reaction to each logo.
"We were interested in how brain responses to food logos would differ between obese and healthy weight children," Dr. Bruce, said in a news release.
Brain regions of obese children showed more response to food logos than healthy weight children.
Healthy weight children were found having more responses in regions of brain associated with self-control when the logos were displayed.
"This study provides preliminary evidence that obese children may be more vulnerable to the effects of food advertising. One of the keys to improving health-related decision-making may be found in the ability to improve self-control," Dr. Bruce, explained.
Findings of the study will be published in The Journal of Pediatrics.
The findings of the report come at a time when approximately 12.5 million young children and teens are affected by obesity problems in the U.S. According to CDC, obese children are at a higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases like high blood pressure and cholesterol, prediabetes, bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, social and psychological problems like stigmatization and poor self-esteem. Following a healthy lifestyle with a healthy eating habit and physical activity can help in preventing the young generation from becoming overweight.
Previous studies have shown advertising and excess TV time turn children overweight or obese. A study published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine found kids addicted to TV eating more junk food and avoiding healthy food like fruits and vegetables.
