RD Witcher/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — You can take candy from a baby, but you can’t stop them from seeing sweets on TV.
A new study published in the journal Appetite says kids are watching more advertisements for candy and junk food now than they were fewer than 10 years ago.
The study began in 2007, when the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative started in order to improve food marketing to children. Seventeen food and beverage companies voluntarily agreed to not advertise candy in child-directed media. Apparently, that didn’t last.
Analysis shows that from 2008 to 2011, children’s exposure to candy ads on U.S. TV increased 74 percent. That’s an average of 485 ads viewed per child in 2011, compared to 279 ads in 2008.
Children’s exposure to candy advertising on TV is associated with sugar consumption far above current dietary guidelines.
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