Proved: TV Leads to
Junk Food Diet
By Camillo Francassini
The Times (of London)
4/9/05
Long seen as the
cornerstones of
childhood obesity, now
a study has found that
the amount of junk
food youngsters eat is
directly proportionate
to the number of hours
they spend watching
television.
Research into the
dietary and viewing
habits of more than
162,000 children in 35
countries has revealed
that their consumption
of sweets and fizzy
drinks rises with each
hour they spend in
front of the box. By
contrast, the amount
of fresh fruit and
vegetables falls.
The findings, by
researchers at the
universities of
Aberdeen and Ghent, in
Belgium, have prompted
renewed calls for
curbs on TV viewing by
children and junk food
advertising.
“The association
between watching TV
and reduced likelihood
of regularly consuming
fruit and vegetables,
found in many
countries, could be .
. . a result of the
replacement of fruit
and vegetables by
other foods advertised
more frequently,” the
authors conclude.
While the study
concedes that couch
potato youngsters may
eat more junk food
while watching
television, it also
claims children are
more likely to ask
for, buy and eat food
they see advertised on
television.
The latest
research, published in
the journal Public
Health Nutrition, is
based on detailed
surveys of children
aged between 11 and 15
carried out by the
World Health
Organisation.
In all but one
country, Greenland,
there was a
significant
association between
television viewing and
higher rates of daily
consumption of sweets
and fizzy drinks.
In terms of
viewing, Scotland came
joint sixth with
England and the United
States with an average
of three hours a day.
Ukraine was top with
3.7 hours, while
children in
Switzerland watched
the least, an average
of two hours a day.
Scots youngsters
were 31% more likely
to consume fizzy
drinks and 26% more
likely to eat sweets
with each additional
hour of television
watched. They were 12%
less likely to eat
vegetables and 15%
less likely to eat
fresh fruit with each
extra hour spent in
front of the box.
In England, each
additional hour of
viewing made children
25% more likely to
consume fizzy drinks
and 20% more likely to
eat sweets. The
likelihood of eating
vegetables or fresh
fruit fell by 12% and
11%, respectively.
The study
concludes: “Given the
associations with
eating habits
presented here, this
may well put them
(young people) at
greater risk of
obesity and poorer
nutritional status.
“Efforts to use
advertising targeted
at children and
adolescents to promote
healthy foods and to
replace young people’s
TV viewing time with
alternative activities
would offer a way
forward in the short
term.”
Ministers also want
to introduce obesity
tests for primary
school children. It
means five-year-olds
would be weighed and
measured to assess if
they are clinically
overweight. Those who
fail the test could be
referred to a
dietician.
It follows
proposals from Ofcom,
the media regulator,
to curb food
advertising aimed at
children including
banning celebrities
from taking part in
food or drink
commercials aimed at
under-10s.
The proposals,
unveiled last month,
have been criticised
by some campaigners
for not going far
enough. Consumer
groups and the British
Heart Foundation have
called for a ban on
junk food advertising
before the 9pm
watershed.
Scots children are
among the fattest in
the world with one in
five 12-year-olds
classed as clinically
obese, one in 10 as
severely obese and one
in three as
overweight.
David Haslam, of
the National Obesity
Forum, said: “This
study encapsulates the
disordered lifestyle
that so many children
have these days. They
sit in front of the
telly with sweets,
crisps and fizzy pop
and it’s going to kill
them.” |
