According to a new study, economists have pointed out that at least 18 percent of children and 14 percent of teens can be saved from obesity if TV ads on fast foods are banned.
Researchers arrived at the conclusion that watching fast food commercials on TV increased the rate of obesity by linking rate of obesity to the time spent by children watching TV ads. They did this using quite a few statistical models. The Journal of Law and Economics will features this study report this month.
According to City University, New York’s economics professor, Micheal Grossman, obese children are found to be addicted to watching television. A Georgia State University economist Inas Rashad and Lehigh College economist Shin-Yi Chou are the co authors of this study which says that the number of such messages aired on TV is alarming and leads to the problem of obesity in more number of people.
According to the Council of Better Business Bureaus spokeswoman, Elaine Kolish, this study was based on outdated data of the 1990s and that some of the major fast food chains of today including McDonald’s and Burger King have pledged to advertise only their products which are healthy for children below twelve years of age.
We now see advertisements of both these companies related to children’s meals only talk about low fat milk and apple sticks. She went on to say that she did not think advertising about milk and apples is going to impact the children’s preferences in any way.
