A ban on fast food advertisements to kids could curb childhood obesity

A new study conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research and funded by the National Institutes of Health states that a ban on fast-food advertising to children would cut the national obesity rate by as much as 18% in ages 3-11 and 14% in ages 12-18.

A rep. said the study was, "the largest of its kind to directly tie childhood obesity to fast-food advertising on American television," based on viewing habits of 13,000 children, using data from U.S. Department of Labor research carried out in 1979 and 1997.

However, Fast Food restaurants beg to differ. Some say that government legislation would not make much difference, since it's parents who choose what and where their kids eat.

But still, many would agree that most children respond to stimulus like a sponge, absorbing all they see and hear and in return reflecting in their own behaviors. So, if they don't see fast food advertisments they will be less likely to want it and/or bug their parents to get it for them.

So, if a clown says eat an apple instead of a happy meal, then which choice do you think these kids will choose??

But hey, let's give the fast foodies a tiny slice of credit for attempting to change their ways:

Many big brand fast food chians including McDonald's, Burger King, Kraft and Kellogg, have signed on to the Council of Better Business Bureaus' Childrens' Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative.a program which requires them to spend 50% of advertising dollars promoting healthy eating and exercise habits.

To read the whole article, click here, for obesity's sake.