Obesity And Marketing: Could Commercials Be Making Us Fat?

In countries all over the world, people view thousands of food commercials per year. Most of these advertisements promote caloric, nutrient-poor foods and fast-food restaurants. These commercials increase our preferences for consumption of unhealthy food and have been identified as an important contributor to the obesity epidemic.

Many studies and research programs are trying to pinpoint the physiological mechanisms through which food marketing may cause obesity. One possibility is that repeated exposure to food commercials activates the brain's reward mechanisms in some people. The activation of specific brain regions causes cravings and, eventually, increased eating — thus contributing to the unhealthy weight gain. 

In a recent experiment of such kind, obese adolescents had greater activation in the reward, gustatory and visual processing regions of the brain regions in response to the Coke advertisements compared to non-food advertisements. Habitual Coke consumers showed greater activation in brain regions that encode attention towards Coke’s logo images compared to control images.

Food Adverts Directly Activate Food-Seeking Behavior In Children

The most recent research (Dartmouth study, May 2015) found that food advertisements can stimulate the regions of the brain that control pleasure, taste and, unexpectedly, the mouth in obese teenagers. These adverts have a clear mental influence on the teenagers’ unhealthy diet habits. Those habits can make it difficult to lose weight in the future using healthier diets. The study used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study brain reactions to two fast food adverts and non-food adverts in obese and normal-weight teenagers between the ages of 12 and 16. 

Commercials were played during the show “The Big Bang Theory” so that the participants couldn’t figure out the purpose of the study. The results show that the regions of the brain involved in attention and reward processing were considerably more active during food commercials compared to non-food commercials. Stronger reward and taste-associated activities of the brain were visible in obese participants compared to their normal-weight counterparts. 

Researchers found that all these interesting phenomena are caused by brain chemistry. When someone watches a commercial for delicious food, their brain releases dopamine and other chemical compounds that give pleasure, and frequent repeating of such actions may result in addictive behavior.

READ Can You Be Healthy And Obese?

The correlation between childhood obesity and televised advertisements for unhealthy food has been widely acknowledged throughout Europe, where the governments of many countries have adopted regulatory measures to either limit children’s exposure to such advertisements or to decrease their effect. It is worth mentioning that the prevalence of childhood obesity is significantly lower in the countries that have introduced such measures compared to the United States

The European Approach To Junk Food Adverts: Worth Paying Attention To

For instance, Norway’s Broadcasting Act allows neither the broadcasting of advertisements in connection with children’s channels, nor directing advertising to children. Under these regulations issued by the Norwegian government, advertisements also cannot be broadcasted 10 minutes directly before or after a children’s program. Television commercials aimed at children younger than 12 have been banned in Sweden since 1991. 

In countries such as Ireland, regulations on advertising unhealthy food have been adopted and advertising candy and fast food on television is prohibited. In addition, in 2004 the French government was motivated to take action against unhealthy food advertisements by an increasing number of obese children. It instructed all beverage advertisers on television and radio to provide information on the content of added sugars, sweeteners and salt. 

In 2007, a decree was issued which defined the kind of health information that must be incorporated in these messages. During television commercials that advertise foods with a high content of added sugar, salt or artificial sweeteners, a message like “for your health, exercise regularly” and “for your health, avoid eating too many foods that are high in fat, sugar, or salt,” are displayed in horizontal bands. 

The commitment to battling the childhood obesity can be seen through the efforts that many European countries are making to decrease children’s exposure to unhealthy food advertisements. In June 2013, The World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe (“WHO/Europe”) requested all member states in the European region to adopt more severe controls on the advertising of foods that contain high level of saturated and trans fats, sugar and salt to children. In its report, named Marketing of Foods High in Fat, Salt and Sugar to Children: Update 2012-2013, WHO/Europe states that the advertisement of unhealthy food and beverage products “is now widely recognized in Europe as a significant risk factor for child obesity and for the development of diet-related non-communicable diseases.” WHO/Europe calls on for more government action and issuing specific advertising regulations which will restrict the marketing of unhealthy food to children and lead to eliminating childhood obesity.

READ Are You Destined To Become Overweight Or Obese?

Legislative Changes Much Needed In The US

Children are swamped with unhealthy food advertisements which influence their consumption of these products on a daily basis. At the same time, it is scientifically proven that these products gradually increase childhood obesity rates for children between the ages of two and 11 in the United States. Obesity increases the risk of developing various serious illnesses, and obese children have diminished chances to grow into healthy adults. Several initiatives to decrease the level of children’s exposure to unhealthy food advertisements have been launched by the Federal government and companies in the food and beverage industry. But so far, these attempts have not led to any noteworthy changes.