Kids See Lots of Junk Food

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday of this week in Washington, DC. However, it wasn’t a vacation of any kind. Instead I got to go to a media event held by the Kaiser Family Foundation during which results from a recent content analysis that I worked with Dr. Walter Gantz and Dr. Nancy Schwartz on.

You actually may have heard about this study already. I’m actually surprised by the amount of media coverage that I’ve seen about this study so far. I’ve heard it on CBS radio, seen it on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, read about it on cnn.com, and have seen links to stories about it in various newspapers.

In our study we found that kids see during a single day many advertisements for candies, snacks, sugar cereals, and soft drinks but no advertisements targeting them for fruits, vegetables, or meats. Also, based on data about children’s viewing habits, we calculated that the average 2-7 year old sees about 4,400 food ads a year, the average 8-12 year old sees about 7,600 food ads a year, and the average 13-17 year old sees about 6,000 food ads a year. Astronomical numbers, I know!

Unfortunately we as the individuals who performed the study are often mentioned in these reports only as “researchers” but it is very cool to see the results that we worked so hard for on a national stage.

I invite you to read the Kasier Family Foundation report, which is linked here.

Or you can see the press event by clicking here.