Does looking at you make you fat?

• April 20, 2024

Hispanic children have high rates of obesity, and a new study suggests that exposure to advertisements for junk food on television could be one of the causes that induces it.

According to the study, based on data from 2010, Hispanic children under the age of 18 saw an average of 12 ads of food and drink television ads per day.

"Given the higher rates of obesity and overweight in Hispanic youth, it's important to understand the amount and type of food advertising they see," said a team led by Frances Fleming-Milici of Yale University. The results are published on the Internet on June 17 at JAMA Pediatrics.

Their analysis estimated that Hispanic children saw a total of more than 4,200 foods and drinks from ads on television (both in English and in Spanish TV) only in 2010.

Restricting the analysis to Spanish-only television, researchers say that Hispanic preschoolers saw 1,038 food advertisements in 2010, the highest number for any age group, according to a press release from the magazine.

Most of the food and beverage advertisements seen by children and adolescents appeared on English-language television, but fast food accounted for a higher percentage of food ads on Spanish-language television, according to the study. Approximately half of the food advertisements on Spanish television were for fast food, cereals or candy.

Exposure to a large number of these food and beverage advertisements with little or no nutritional value probably contributes to the high rate of obesity among young Americans, the study authors said.

Noting "declared food companies' intentions to increase marketing to Hispanics, continued tracking of food and beverage marketing to Hispanic youth is required," the Yale team added.

You can find more information in the American Academy of Pediatrics

Video Medicine: ⚖️ 6 Habits That’ll Quickly Make You Fat & Cause Weight Gain (April 2024).