Obesity Literature Review Leisha Hansen 12/4/13

Recently obesity has become a larger problem in America than it has been in the past (Livingston and Zylke 2012: 1162). Americans seem to be consuming more foods that arent healthy for them due to changes in their diet (Nie and Zepeda 2011:28). Although some would say that weight gain is an individual problem, patterns are seen on a large scale level which indicates that there are social forces at work causing higher levels of overweight and obese people. One social force in particular could be pointed out above the rest. Americans are becoming overweight and obese because advertising promotes fatty, low nutrition foods instead of healthy, nutritious foods (Cornwell and McAlister 2011:428). Americans are surrounded with an advertising rich environment that promotes poor foods (Rayport 2013:78). Advertisers mainly target children and when children see these advertisements for high fat and high calorie foods they are more likely to consume them (Boyland and Halford 2013:236). This then becomes a lifestyle for them and studies show that obese children are likely to become obese adults (Reilly and Kelly 2011:35).Overall the advertising of nutrient-poor foods is causing obesity (Cornwell and McAlister 2011:428). Technology is only growing and with that growth comes a greater availability for companies to advertise their products (Schor and Ford 2007:13). Commercials can be found on the radio, on TV, and on the internet. Large amounts of media consumption then shouldnt be a surprise with all of the advancements in technology over the last few decades. Companies even have it down to a science at what time of the day advertising is most effective (Calli and Weverbergh and Franses 2012:109). Studies also show that this electronic usage has an impact on peoples behavior and influences what they do (Wagner and Hassanein and Head 2010:878). Advertisers know the impact commercials have on their consumer and thats why a large portion

of advertising is directed at the most receptive audience: children (Schor and Ford 2007:10). And the majority of commercials that children view are ones that promote high fat, sugar, and high calorie foods (Schor and Ford 2007:10). Regarding the cereal industry, which is one of the largest industries targeting children, of the 757 commercials children viewed almost 100% of the cereals promoted were unhealthy (Schwartz et al. 2010:59). These commercials are not good for children to view because studies show that commercials influence the products being purchased and when children eat these poor nutrient foods they become overweight (Schor and Ford 2007:10). Advertisers know that children spend a lot of time using media which is why they are the target market for these unhealthy foods (Schor and Ford 2007:10). A study also found that children, ages eight to eighteen, are currently exposed to eight-and-a-half hours of media a day (Schor and Ford 2007:10). The majority of this media being TV commercials (Schor and Ford, 2007:10). Advertising targets children because they are now becoming the consumer, they being the ones to purchase cheap food for themselves (Schor and Ford 2007:10). Statistics about what children are exposed to and the influence it has on them is almost frightening. Studies show that children are exposed to around 20,000 ads a year and it is estimated that half of those ads are for food products (Schor and Ford 2007:11). Not surprisingly the majority of those ads come from the food, soft drink and restaurant industries all of which promote foods that are high in fat and calories (Schor and Ford 2007:11-14). The restaurant, soft drink, and candy companies alone spend 400 billion dollars a year advertising their products (Corsica and Hood 2011:998).Studies also found that when products were advertised they were more likely to be purchased (Chemmanur and Yan 2009:40). From this it can be concluded that when people are exposed to food advertisements they will be more likely to purchase those product. Advertising isnt just

limited to commercial advertising either. High calorie foods are also promoted through toys and samples (Cornwell and McAlister 2011:429). Children have food associations and this is why places like McDonalds will use toys to help promote their products to children (Cornwell and McAlister 2011:429). Children will associate certain objects or their environment with the food they are eating, so if a happy environment is eating unhealthy foods children will be more likely to consume the nutrient-poor food (Cornwell and McAlister 2011:429). Along with associating food with objects, unhealthy food is also associated with positive attributes which is another reason that children want to consume these high fat and high calorie foods (Harris and Bargh and Brownell 2009:404). These children then develop a preference for the high calorie food that is unhealthy for them (Cornwell and McAlister 2011:437).The problem is that the food promoted with toys and positive traits is often fast food packed high in salt, fat and calories. Children and adults then consume this food which in turn causes significant weight gain (Elbel and Gyamfi and Kersh 2010:493). It is important to discuss the influence of advertising on children because they are an important part of the obesogenic environment Americans live in (Corsica and Hood 2011:996). Children have an influence on what adults consume and how much (Schor and Ford, 2007:11). This is because adults yield to what children want because people have busier lives and decisions in the family are not being made by the adults alone (Schor and Ford 2007:11).The same study also found that children influence adults to buy more and their influence is only increasing as the availability of cheap food is becoming more and more prevalent (Schor and Ford 2007:11).Children not only influence what adults purchase, but they also retain the same eating habits as they did when they were children, so they are likely to become obese as adults (Reilly and Kelly 2011:896). Studies show that when children view advertisements that promote

products that are unhealthy they internalize the behavior of choosing unhealthy snacks during the day and this then becomes a pattern in their lifestyle (Harris and Bargh and Brownell 2009:405). The same can be said for adults, that when they view advertisements promoting high calorie foods their behavior towards food changes (Harris and Bargh and Brownell 2009:410). They become more likely to consume the products that they are viewing (Harris and Bargh and Brownell, 2009:410). Once trapped in this cycle of obesity its imaginable that it would be hard to get out of, especially when advertising surrounds people almost everywhere. Advertising also affect adults because it shapes their behavior based on what they are viewing (Wagner and Hassanein and Head 2010:878). With access to technology people become lazier and spend more time in front of their TV, thus viewing more commercials a lot of which will be for unhealthy foods (Corsica and Hood 2011:996). People will try and lose weight, but it is hard when they are surrounded by an environment of marketing that promotes unhealthy foods (Livingston and Zylke 2012:1162). A study done in 2010 also showed that the 35% of adults were obese (Livingston and Zylke 2012:1162). Not only is it sad that so many Americans are gaining extreme amounts of weight, but usually obesity is accompanied with major health problems such as diabetes and heart disease (Livingston and Zylke 2012:1162). Even when measures are taken to try and limit the intake of high fat and high calorie foods research shows that advertising weakens their effectiveness (Livingston and Zylke 2012:1162). Inadvertently people could draw the conclusion that advertising is indirectly causing major health problems through the segue of obesity. In general, advertising plays a huge role in society, especially its influence on children (Schor and Ford 2007:11). Results show that when high fat and high calorie foods are promoted though advertising it causes obesity in America (Livingston and Zylke 2012:1162).

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