4/29/2012

Familiarity With Television Fast-Food Ads Linked to Obesity

There is a long-held concern that youths who eat a lot of fast food are at risk for becoming overweight. New research to be presented Sunday, April 29, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Boston shows that greater familiarity with fast-food restaurant advertising on television is associated with obesity in young people.

“We know that children and adolescents are highly exposed to fast-food restaurant advertising, particularly on television. This study links obesity in young people to familiarity with this advertising, suggesting that youth who are aware of and receptive to televised fast-food marketing may be at risk for health consequences,” said lead author Auden C. McClure, MD, MPH, FAAP, assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.