Health policies are increasingly focused on prevention so that there is no need for cure. This explains, for example, the awareness campaigns against smoking and in favour of responsible driving. However, it is also logical to think that, just as propaganda can be used to change habits for the better, the opposite can also happen.

Obese children: what role does advertising play?

Just like many cultural products such as video games or music are often accused (unfoundedly) of inducing unwanted behaviour , the idea that advertising affects us in ways that go beyond our purchasing preferences does not seem far-fetched. Could it be that advertising spots change the way we are and that they do so for the worse?

A recent study indicates that this may be happening because of the influence that advertisements for unhealthy industrial food have on children.

What is the research?

The research from which this conclusion has been drawn is a meta-study carried out on the basis of the analysis of data obtained from 18 studies already published. The team behind the study wanted to get an overview of the results reached by other scientists in order to find out whether unhealthy food advertisements modify the consumption habits of children and adults and thus provide a basis for implementing certain regulations on advertising in case there is an unwanted influence.

Thus, all the experimental design studies that were selected for the meta-analysis had to do with the relationship between exposure to industrial food advertisements and food consumption. Thus, we used samples of children and adults exposed to advertising about this type of food , collected data on the amount of food they ate, and compared these data with those of individuals who were not made to see this advertising.

The results

The data obtained show that this type of advertising does have a significant effect , albeit small or moderate, on the amount of food that children eat, while the same does not seem to be the case for the adult population.

This reinforces the idea that timely exposure to food advertising induces children to eat more food, which can have social and political implications.

Do these conclusions make sense?

Actually, I do. Younger people are especially prone to be influenced by all kinds of stimuli , and this is very well reflected in the way they imitate and adopt habits they see in other people or in fashionable trends. Furthermore, even if advertisements are designed to make people buy a particular product, this does not mean that they cannot have a much wider spectrum of possible effects than simply the continued purchase of a single brand, so that children try to satisfy the needs that the advertisements emphasise through all kinds of behaviours related to (but not the same as) those seen in advertising.

The effects of this have no impact on the turnover of the companies concerned, but they do have an impact on the lives of young people and on public health systems. Regulating more by putting more control on what is shown in this type of advertisement can be complicated, but in light of these data it is a path that could be worth taking, considering the omnipresence of advertising not only on television but also on the Internet, a space in which young people are developing like fish in water.