Free Essay. Fast Food Advertising

Research indicates that in an age where technology precedes most of the developments occurring in society, children are exposed to unhealthy food advertising twice as much as healthy food advertising. As such, food advertising whose primary target audience has been the youths and children has been correlated to unhealthy habits and the onset of conditions such as obesity. There exists a vast volume of research on the topic of fast food advertising and children. For such a sensitive topic with an extended scope of impacts, sources have been varied in their findings. For instance, in the recent years, the prevalence of childhood obesity in the United States and around the world has seen a dramatic rise. Most recent estimates demonstrate an increased prevalence amongst the youngest children.

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"The Association of Television and Video Viewing with Fast Food Intake by Preschool Age Children" and "Fast-Food Consumption and the Ban on Advertising Targeting Children: The Quebec Experience" are two articles investigating the relationship between advertisements and fast food consumption in children. At the current rate of prevalence, childhood overweight has become a serious public health concern in many parts of the world. In response, there is a shift in attitude towards fast food advertisements in television and videos targeting pre-school age children. These adverts, previously considered to be harmless, propel a major public health problem through accelerating the consumption of fast food among children. This paper focuses on the similarities and differences of the two articles in their attempts to present this topic.

Comparing the Articles

According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 2000-2001 reveal that 11.4 percent of toddlers within 23 months old were overweight. The CDC statistics estimate obesity prevalence at 13.9 percent among 2-5 year olds, 18.4% among 6-11 year olds, and 20.6% among 12-19 year olds. At the current rate of prevalence, childhood overweight has become a serious public health concern in many parts of the world. In response, there is a shift in attitude towards fast food advertisements in television and videos targeting pre-school age children. These adverts, previously considered to be harmless, propel a major public health problem through accelerating the consumption of fast food among children. An average preschool kid in the United States spends an all-time high of 15 TV hours per week which makes them particularly vulnerable to fast food ads.

According to Taveras, Thomas, Mei-Chiung, Dennis, Donald, and Matthew, (2034), children and young infants present the most vulnerabilities when it comes to food and advertising. Fast food advertising has been reported to target this population increasingly in the recent past. TV/video viewing has indicated a significant correlation with the fast food consumption habits reported in pre-school children (Taveras et al 2034). An increase in the consumption of TV and video content causes a considerable increase in the probability of consuming unhealthy foods by this population. Physical activity and diets have been attributed to etiologic aspects of overweight. However, evidence for a behavioral risk factor in childhood overweight is highly related to the impacts of TV viewing (Taveras et al 2035). These effects are so severe so that the American Academy of Pediatrics provides guidelines for TV viewing for children and infants. For instance, the Academy recommends no TV viewing for children below the age of 2 years and limiting the viewing time to not more than 2 hours a day for those over the age of 2 years (Taveras et al 2035).

Dhar and Baylis present as triple difference-in-difference approach to the analysis of the impacts of fast food advertising children. Governments and other bodies concerned with the welfare of children are concerned with rate of increase of childhood obesity (Dhar & Baylis 799). Many countries have resorted to the enactment of policies that govern the production and consumption of advertising targeting children. For instance, countries such as Quebec are exercising a ban on the advertising of junk food. There are several risks to which children and adolescents are exposed to following the consumption of junk food (Dhar & Baylis 799). These include cardiovascular disease, depression, and diabetes. This ranks obesity in the second position after smoking as a cause of preventable deaths (Dhar & Baylis 799). Research on obesity indicates that the consumption of junk food is a paramount enhancement of obesity as it increases the amount of caloric intake per meal (Dhar & Baylis 799).

In the report presented by (Dhar & Baylis 799), there is an increasing effort in the implementation of initiatives aimed at enforcing the regulations set up on the ban on advertising that targets children. Countries such the United States, United Kingdom have implemented initiatives governing junk-food advertising to children following their vulnerabilities (Dhar & Baylis 800). More so, jurisdictions such as Quebec in Canada, Norway, Sweden, and Greece. However, it is important to note that regardless of the existence of such bans, lobby groups argue that the rate of obesity and children consuming junk food in Quebec is not any different than the ones reported in other parts of Canada (Dhar & Baylis 800).

The two articles present in-depth insights into the menace that is obesity and junk food advertising targeting children. A ton of useful information can be deduced from the reports, findings, and conclusions drawn in the two articles. They exhibit a strong capability to inform and educate the reader on the causes and impacts of advertising targeting children and the youths in correlation to fast foods and obesity. They are very similar in their scope of tackling the subject matter and analysis of available information.

On the other hand, the two articles differ in their areas of focus when it comes to fast food advertising and its impacts on children. The article by Dhar & Baylis focuses more on the impacts of the ban on advertising on the expenditure. Additionally, it follows a different approach in comparison to tougher studies regarding the synthesis and analysis of information available on this topic (Dhar & Baylis 800). This article is also a study of the effectiveness of advertising as a result, deviating from the conventional estimation methods and data analysis techniques of conducting research. On the contrary, the article by Taveras et al focuses on the impacts of TV/ video viewing on children They present an extremely vulnerable population as can be seen form the findings and results of the article. It presents a systematic and detailed discussion of how fast food advertising on children can be detrimental. Methods of the data collection and data analysis techniques are also different depicted in the manner in which information flows throughout the article. This article also covers sensitive aspects of advertising and the causes and impacts discussed therein resonate with the present state of our society.

Conclusively, the article by Taveras et al titled "The Association of Television and Video Viewing with Fast Food Intake by Preschool-Age Children" is the better of the two. Besides, its information sticks to the thesis of this paper indicating how fast food advertising impacts on children after the comparison of the two articles.

Works Cited

Dhar, Tirtha, and Kathy Baylis. "Fast-food consumption and the ban on advertising targeting children: the Quebec experience." Journal of Marketing Research 48.5 (2011): 799-813.

Taveras, Elsie M., et al. "The association of television and video viewing with fast food intake by preschool-age children." Obesity 14.11 (2006): 2034-2041.