This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Balfour Jeffrey, D. Articles by Fox, D. T. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Balfour Jeffrey, D. Articles by Fox, D. T. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

The Development of Children's Eating Habits: The Role of Television Commercials

University of Montana

Robert W. McLellarn, M.A.

University of Montana

Daniel T. Fox, Ph.D.

University of Montana

There is growing evidence that the long-term consumption of the typical high-sugar, high-calorie American diet may lead to a variety of health problems. Since the majority of food ads on television are for high-sugar, high-calorie types of foods, researchers have begun investigating the effects of these commercials. A number of self-report, survey, and correlational studies have found that children watch on the average 28 hours of TV a week, see over 11,000 low-nutrition "junk" food ads a year on TV, believe (at the younger ages) that commercials tell the truth, recall the ads, and often request in stores foods that are highly advertised. A series of behaviorallexperimental studies conducted at the University of Montana are reported in some detail. The initial stage of the research focused upon the development of a methodology for assessing the impact of commercials upon the actual amounts of foods consumed. Next, a series of studies investigating the effects of low-nutrition, pro- nutrition, and nonfood commercials upon the eating behaviors of children was begun. The results, to date, suggest low-nutrition ads are most effec tive in increasing total caloric consumption. Additionally, low-nutrition ads seem to affect boys more than girls and are not mediated by cognitive development. Finally, pro-nutrition ads have so far proven ineffective in increasing consumption of pro-nutrition foods. Some of the implications of applying the growing body of empirical literature on children's television to social policy issues are also discussed.

Health Education & Behavior, Vol. 9, No. 2-3, 78-93 (1982)
DOI: 10.1177/109019818200900208


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?