Advertising and Childhood Obesity Essay -- Health, Diseases

According to the Centers for Disease Control (2007), the rate of obesity among children between the ages of six and eleven in the United States has increased about five times compared with the rate in the 1970s (Yu 87). There are over nine million children in the U.S. today between the ages of six and eleven who are considered to be obese (Yu 87). The real question is what is the exact cause of obesity in children today? Some people believe there is a link between the advertising children see on TV and obesity. There are many factors that lead up to childhood obesity. Children and adolescents, who are obese, are usually caused by several things. Both exposure to television food advertising and obesity are highly linked with the time children spend in front of the television, the parenting style and exposure to other kids of marking (Veerman). Here are some of the factors that may contribute to childhood obesity: lack of physical activity, unhealthy eating habits, genetics, social factors, media, and the environment. Advertising does not contribute to childhood obesity alone and solely targeting advertising as being the only factor will not make a huge impact on this ever-growing problem ("Childhood Obesity"). Some people argue that advertising is the only link but I will explain to you the reasons that I believe work together to cause the obesity epidemic. The first cause that I will be talking about is advertising. The television market spends 10 billion on advertising in the hopes of influencing children (Zimmerman 336). The most common product advertised on television is food ads. During Saturday morning cartoons children will be exposed to one commercial pertaining to food around every five minutes (Zimme... ...es and lead by example the kinds of food you buy for them. If they see you buying the healthy, nutritious foods than they will most likely buy them as well. If parents are more responsible, when it comes to teaching their children how to live a healthier lifestyle, we will probably see more of a decrease in childhood obesity. As I have explained there are many factors that contribute to childhood obesity. I don't think they the issue can be linked to just the advertising to children alone. I have told you about some of the other factors that combined together contribute to childhood obesity. They include but are not limited to advertising, convenience of fast food, genetics, the environment and one of the biggest contributions, parental influence. If you find your child heading in the direction of childhood obesity consider all the things I talked about.