Small Packages May Lead to Overeating

Tempting treats are being offered in small package sizes these days, presumably to help consumers reduce portion sizes. Yet new research in the Journal of Consumer Research found that people actually consume more high-calorie snacks when they are in small packages than large ones. And smaller packages make people more likely to give in to temptation in the first place.

Authors Rita Coelho do Vale (Technical University of Lisbon), Rik Pieters, and Marcel Zeelenberg (both Tilburg University, the Netherlands) found that large packages triggered concern of overeating and conscious efforts to avoid doing so, while small packages were perceived as innocent pleasures, leaving the consumers unaware that they were overindulging.

"The increasing availability of single-serve and multi-packs may not serve consumers in the long-run, but—because they are considered to be innocent pleasures—may turn out to be sneaky small sins," write the authors.

One fascinating aspect of the research is the difference between belief and reality. In an initial study, researchers found that consumers believe that small packages help them regulate "hedonistic consumption," where self-restraint is at stake. When participants were asked to choose phone plans, those who thought the plan was for social rather than work purposes tended to choose smaller plans.

The researchers then moved on to food. Participants in one group had their "dietary concerns" activated by completing a "Body Satisfaction scale," a "Drive for Thinness scale," and a "Concern for Dieting scale." They were then weighed and measured, in front of a mirror, to fully activate their awareness. Then those participants (and a control group, which didn't have its "dietary concerns" activated) watched episodes of Friends interspersed with commercials. They believed they were there to evaluate the ads. But researchers were really monitoring their consumption of potato chips. Chips were available to participants in large packages or small ones. The study found that consumption was lowest when dieting concerns were activated and package size was large. People were less likely to open large packages, and participants deliberated longer before consuming from the larger packages.

"Maybe the answer lies in consumers taking responsibility for their consumption and monitoring internal cues of sufficiency, rather than letting package size take control," conclude the authors.

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Women Who Gain Excessive Weight During Pregnancy More Likely to Have Overweight Children

Children of mothers who gain more than the recommended amount of weight during pregnancy are more likely to be overweight at age seven, say researchers from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, in a study published today in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Children of mothers who are obese prior to pregnancy and gain excessive weight are at the greatest risk for overweight.

"The earliest determinants of obesity may operate during intrauterine life, and gestational weight gain may influence the environment in the womb in ways that can have long-term consequences on the risk of obesity in children," saud study leader Brian Wrotniak, of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania. "Adherence to
pregnancy weight gain recommendations may be a new and effective way to prevent childhood obesity, since currently almost half of U.S. women exceed these recommendations."

The researchers reviewed data from a cohort of 10,226 participants enrolled between 1959 and 1965 in the multicenter National Collaborative Perinatal Project. It was initiated to investigate risk factors for cerebral palsy at 12 U.S. sites. This study looked at the children born at
full-term gestation, and researchers evaluated socioeconomic and growth data during gestation, at birth and at age 7. Maternal data were collected at enrollment by using a questionnaire that included maternal pre-pregnancy weight, age and race. Maternal weight and height were measured at the time of delivery to determine gestational weight gain -- the difference between
the measured weight at delivery and the reported pre-pregnancy weight.

According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), which makes recommendations for weight gain during pregnancy, the amount of weight women should gain during pregnancy depends on the mother's weight status before pregnancy. Women at a healthy pre-pregnancy weight are encouraged to gain 25 to 35 pounds, while women who are overweight should stay between 15
to 25 pounds. Women who are underweight should gain more weight during pregnancy -- between 28 and 40 pounds.

Of the women studied by the researchers, 11 percent gained excessive weight, 24 percent gained adequate weight and 65 percent gained insufficient weight. Today, said the researchers, these proportions would be very different, with almost one in two women gaining more weight than recommended during pregnancy.

The authors say that encouraging pregnant women to adopt healthy eating practices and engage in aerobic physical activity could help them achieve appropriate weight gain and also help prevent obesity in their children. They add that benefits would likewise result from healthy eating and exercise before becoming pregnant, as well as reducing postpartum weight
retention before a subsequent pregnancy.

Using the IOM guidelines, children whose mothers exceeded the recommended weight gain were 48 percent more likely to be overweight than children whose mothers stayed within the recommended weight gain. The risk of overweight was similar for children born of women who gained insufficient weight compared with mothers who gained appropriate weight
during pregnancy.

The researchers add that more research is necessary to clarify whether the association between greater gestational weight gain and increased odds of overweight in offspring is causal, and whether it exists in today's environment of increasing obesity.

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Science Shows Soyfoods May Help Win 'Battle of the Belt'

Scientists have found soyfoods may be a valuable weapon in the weight loss battle. Protein-rich soyfoods, when replacing other sources of protein, may help individuals lose weight and fat -- while lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol. An evidence-based review by David Allison and Mark Cope at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and John Erdman at the University of Illinois at Champagne-Urbana, finds soyfoods are equal to other protein sources, such as dairy or meat, in helping to battle weight by promoting fat loss.

This comprehensive review, published in the November issue of Obesity Reviews, examines current research on animals, human populations, and clinical trials related to soy protein and weight control. Researchers sought to determine the strength of the evidence on four proposed mechanisms by which soy may aid weight control: 1) soy increases weight loss when consumed at an equal calorie level as other foods, 2) soy aids weight and fat loss by decreasing caloric intake, 3) certain soyfoods benefit glucose control and heart health during weight loss, and 4) certain soyfoods will minimize the loss of bone mass during weight loss.

The review, including results from eight human studies, finds that individuals lost equivalent amounts of weight and, in some cases, equal inches of fat around the waist, using soy protein, dairy milk meal replacements, beef or pork at equal calorie levels. This illustrates the value of soy protein in a varied diet for weight control. Findings also support the possibility that soy protein decreases short-term appetite and calorie intake. Extensive follow-up trials are needed to prove the satiety, or feeling of fullness, factor of soy protein.

Researchers also examined whether soy isoflavones reduce diabetes by stopping fat tissue build up and enhancing fat breakdown. Limited animal trials and human studies suggest soy-based diets and isoflavones may lower blood glucose and insulin levels. If proven effective, a soy-based meal replacement could provide additional benefits to diabetics during weight reduction. Researchers confirmed soy-based diets, compared to other low calorie diets, reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol and triglycerides and raise HDL (good) cholesterol. Findings indicate soy may reduce bone loss in women, but additional clinical trials on soy and bone loss are needed.

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Find Out More About Lap Band

You've probably heard about the Lap band procedure for major weight loss, but maybe you haven't gotten much more information about it.

The Lap Band is a minimally invasive -- the least invasive -- surgical weight-loss option because it uses laparoscopic techniques that use tiny incisions rather than a large incision. The procedure can be performed as an outpatient (day-stay) procedure.

The procedure reduces stomach capacity, restricting the amount of food that can be consumed at one time. The band is locked securely in a ring around the stomach, creating a small stomach pouch that can hold a smaller amount of food so food storage in the stomach is reduced.

Journey Lite performs the Lap Band procedure and they pride themselves on expertise in caring for all the physical and emotional needs of the seriously overweight patient.

Visit the Journey Lite website to learn more. Please remember to discuss any weight loss options with your personal physician first.

This was a sponsored post.

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Researcher Argues Most Physicians Aren't Prepared to Deal With Obesity Epidemic

The soaring obesity rates across the globe have been called the most critical challenge to public health of the 21st century. A university researcher argues that most physicians are not adequately prepared to deal with this obesity epidemic.


In an article published in Canadian Family Physician, University of Alberta researcher Tim Caulfield examines the vital role physicians play in managing and identifying obesity and highlights the obstacles these physicians must overcome when treating obese patients. Caulfield, who is the Canada Research Chair in Health Law at the U of A and professor and research director in public health sciences, is recognized as one of the foremost experts in health law research in Canada.

In North America, physicians have a legal obligation to provide their patients with a reasonable standard of care, says Caulfield. By law, overweight and obese patients are entitled to the same level of care as the general public; however, there are reasons to believe this patient population is not, in some circumstances, receiving optimal care and advice.

Available data indicates that many physicians do not have the skills and knowledge to address obesity. According to Caulfield, this could contribute to substandard care in the way obesity is handled and in the way obese patients are treated.

"Family physicians play a crucial role in identifying and managing obesity," says Caulfield. "As the rates of obesity become more prevalent, we need to recognize and become aware of the issues that can reduce liability and improve the care of these patients."

Caulfield notes that earlier studies have found that most physicians (83 percent) were less likely to perform physical examinations on reluctant obese patients, and 17 percent admitted reluctance to perform pelvic exams on obese patients. One study found that one-fourth of physicians think that they are not at all or only slightly competent recommending treatment for obese patients.


As obesity rises, Caulfield notes, so will the number of malpractice suits. "By identifying the legal issues that may come with treating these patients, it will become easier for family physicians to address weight management."

Steps should be taken, according to Caulfield, to ensure family physicians have the skills, tools and resources necessary to satisfy their legal duties and to optimize their role in managing this complex public health concern.

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Drug Dosages Often Incorrect for Obese Patients

As if severely overweight people didn’t already have enough health concerns, experts are raising another red flag – the possibility that some of their prescription medications, especially antibiotics, may not be prescribed at the appropriate dosage and could be ineffective.

Because most adult antibiotics are produced in a “one size fits all” dosage and some doctors are not attuned to this issue, the societal trend towards severe obesity is resulting in more individuals who get inappropriate drug therapies for infectious disease, a new study in the journal Pharmacotherapy suggests.

“The number of individuals with the highest body mass index, very obese people, is up 600 percent between 1986 and 2000,” says David Bearden, a clinical associate professor in the College of Pharmacy at Oregon State University.

“Very obese individuals in some cases, even those with severe infections, may be getting only half the necessary dose of a prescription drug such as an antibiotic,” Bearden said. “That’s a problem. It could lead not only to antibiotic failure but also an increase in antibiotic resistance, another serious issue.”

The problem is somewhat less of a concern with dosages of medications that patients take for extended periods, such as blood pressure or cholesterol medications, because the results of taking those medications are more routinely monitored and dosages can be increased as necessary. It’s a particular concern with antibiotics, Bearden says, because they are often used to treat severe or even life-threatening infections, and “bad things can happen quickly if the drug is ineffective.”

Drug companies are just now becoming more aware of this issue and beginning to test and recommend dosages more appropriate for adults of varying weights, Bearden says. But with older drugs that are commonly used, there often is very little or no data for adjusting dosages. In actual practice the issue is often ignored outright, or “educated guesses” are made with whatever data is available.

Without more attention, the issue may only get worse, and it’s not just a U.S. phenomenon. The World Health Organization estimates that 400 million people were obese in 2005 and that the total will increase to 700 million by 2015. It considers these numbers a “global pandemic” that is affecting low, middle and high-income nations around the world. Obesity is also considered an independent risk factor for surgical site infections and is associated with higher mortality rates in critically ill patients.

Even if the problem is carefully considered, Bearden says, it’s not simple.

“It would be nice if we could just use a simple multiplier to adjust drug dosages for overweight people,” Bearden says. “But it’s not that easy. There are a lot of factors that affect drug distribution in the body, including age, weight, kidney function, other disease problems and the type of antibiotic or other drug.”

Adipose tissue, or body fat, affects how the human body interacts with drugs. With some drugs it absorbs large amounts of a prescription medication, but with others, it doesn’t. And sometimes there is a very fine line between a drug being effective at one dose, ineffective if the dose is too low, and toxic if it’s too high. All of these issues affect appropriate dosages, and in many situations, the data needed to evaluate the problem simply doesn’t exist.

The issue of adjusted drug dosages has been known and addressed in children for decades, experts say, because of the obvious distinction between a 30-pound toddler and a 120-pound youngster. But with adults, far less attention has been given the problem. The medical and pharmaceutical industries often just assume that everyone weighs about 150-170 pounds.

“This is enough of an issue that if I were a very obese person being given an antibiotic, I would discuss it with my doctor,” Bearden says. “Hopefully the doctor will already have considered it and will be able to address your concerns. If not, then it’s a conversation you need to have, and more medical specialists, including pharmacists, may need to be consulted.”

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ER Episode Impacts Viewers' Health Knowledge, Behavior

A new study by researchers at the University of Southern California suggests that some TV may be good for you.

Researchers found that a storyline on the primetime NBC network drama ER that dealt with teen obesity, hypertension and healthy eating habits had a positive impact on the attitudes and behaviors of viewers, particularly among men.

The study, published in the Sept. 14 Journal of Health Communication and now available online, offered researchers a rare opportunity to evaluate the impact of health messages in entertainment, says Thomas Valente, associate professor of preventive medicine and member of the Institute for Health Promotion & Disease Prevention Research (IPR) at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

“This study demonstrates the importance of interventions and programs targeted at a population level,” says Valente. “We have so many public heath issues to deal with, we can’t restrict ourselves to any one strategy. We have to do everything and anything we can to help people improve their health.”

The storyline depicted an African-American teen who is diagnosed with hypertension during a visit to the emergency room and is advised to eat more fruits and vegetables and to get more exercise. The story aired over three episodes from April 29 to May 13, 2004.

The impact of the episodes was evaluated using three separate datasets, one of which provided data on a sample of 807 primetime viewers before and after the episodes aired. An independent firm collected surveys from viewers, measuring whether their self-reported behavior and their nutrition attitudes, knowledge and practices were impacted by the storyline.

Results showed that ER viewers were 65 percent more likely to report a positive change in their behavior after watching the episodes. The results also suggested that the storyline had modest impacts on knowledge, attitudes and practices, Valente notes. Those who watched ER also had a five percent higher rate of knowledge about nutrition than those who did not. Researchers accounted for a number of factors, including age, sex, ethnicity, income and education.

Interestingly, the effects were stronger for men than they were for women. Researchers theorize this may be because men started with a lower baseline knowledge of the information shown in the episodes, Valente says.

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Eat Seafood, See Weight Loss, Fish Advocates Say

Recent news reports confirm that obesity rates continued to climb in over 30 states in 2006, so it might be surprising to learn that there are some foods Americans need to eat more of. Currently only 20 percent of the general population and 18 percent of pregnant moms are eating two weekly servings of seafood as recommended by experts, including the American Heart Association (AHA) and American Dietetic Association (ADA). More people might dive in to seafood if they knew that in addition to being low in fat and high in protein, fish contains other components that may boost weight loss.

A study published recently in the International Journal of Obesity finds that in young adult men, a low-calorie diet that includes fish results in slightly more weight loss than a similar low-calorie diet without fish. The study is part of SEAFOODplus, a large multicenter project sponsored by the European Union to explore the benefits of seafood. Researchers think seafood can enhance weight loss because of the omega-3 fatty acids, which may decrease growth of fat cells, and special fish proteins, which may reduce body fat mass.

"Seafood is a smart choice not only for a fit lifestyle, but a busy schedule. Many people don't know that seafood is quick and easy to prepare and that it is also inexpensive. There are many new products on the market like flavored canned and pouched tuna, flash frozen shrimp that cooks up in minutes and pre-marinated fresh tilapia fillets that come ready to throw on
the grill," says Jennifer Wilmes, nutritionist with The National Fisheries Institute. The institute is an advocate for the fish industry.

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How We Can Stop Stress From Making Us Obese

Herbert Herzog, Director of the Neuroscience Research Program at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, together with scientists from the US and Slovakia, have shown that neuropeptide Y (NPY), a molecule the body releases when stressed, can ‘unlock’ Y2 receptors in the body’s fat cells, stimulating the cells to grow in size and number. By blocking those receptors, it may be possible to prevent fat growth, or make fat cells die.

“We have known for over a decade that there is a connection between chronic stress and obesity,” says Herzog. “We also know that NPY plays a major role in other chronic stress-induced conditions, such as susceptibility to infection. Now we have identified the exact pathway, or chain of molecular events, that links chronic stress with obesity.”

“There is not much we can do about the increased levels of NPY caused by stress, but we can do something about the damage it causes. If we can interfere before it causes fat to amass, it could have a major impact on cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer (which all have links with obesity).”

“Basically, when we have a stress reaction, NPY levels rise in our bodies, causing our heart rate and blood pressure to go up, among other things. Stress reactions are normal, unavoidable, and generally serve a useful purpose in life. It’s when stress is chronic that its effects become damaging.”

Scientists at Georgetown University in Washington D.C, part of this collaborative study, have found a direct connection between stress, a high calorie diet and unexpectedly high weight gain. Stressed and unstressed mice were fed normal diets and high calorie (high fat and high sugar, or so called ‘comfort food’) diets. The mice on normal diets did not become obese. However, stressed mice on high calorie diets gained twice as much fat as unstressed mice on the same diet. The novel and unexpected finding was that when stressed and non-stressed animals ate the same high calorie foods, the stressed animals utilised and stored fat differently.

“Our findings suggest that we may be able to reverse or prevent obesity caused by stress and diet, including the worst kind of obesity; the apple-shaped type, which makes people more susceptible to heart disease and diabetes,” says senior author of the Nature Medicine paper, Professor Zofia Zukowska of Georgetown University. “Using animal models, in which we have either blocked the Y2 receptor, or selectively removed the gene from the abdominal fat cells, we have shown that stressed mice on high calorie diets do not become obese. “Even more surprisingly, in addition to having flatter bellies, adverse metabolic changes linked to stress and diet, which include glucose intolerance and fatty liver, became markedly reduced. We do not know yet exactly how that happens, but the effect was remarkable,” she says.

Herzog believes that these research findings will have a profound effect on the way society will deal with the obesity epidemic. “There are millions of people around the world who have lived with high levels of stress for so long their bodies think it’s ‘normal’. If these people also eat a high fat and high sugar diet, which is what many do as a way to reduce their stress, they will become obese.”

“Until now, the pharmaceutical industry has focused on appetite suppressants with only moderate success. Our hope is that in the near future pharmaceutical companies, using the results of our research, will develop antagonists against the Y2 receptor that will bring about a reduction in fat cells.”






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Playgrounds Could Unlock Key to Childhood Obesity, Study Says

A RAND Corporation study says school playgrounds and athletic facilities can be important tools in the fight against childhood obesity, but many are locked and in accessible to children on weekends – especially in poor and minority neighborhoods.

The study is a new analysis of data from a national research study called the Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls. The data deals with the physical activity of 1,556 girls in the sixth grade in six metropolitan areas: Washington, D.C./Baltimore, Md.; Columbia, S.C.; Minneapolis, Minn.; New Orleans, La.; Tucson, Ariz.; and San Diego, Calif.

Researchers visited all the schools and parks within a half-mile radius of the homes of the girls on Saturdays in the spring of 2003 for the original study. The 407 schools represented 44 percent of potential neighborhood sites for physical activity.

Researchers found that, on average, 66 percent of the schools were unlocked on weekends. But only 57 percent of schools were both unlocked and had accessible facilities for weekend physical activities such as playgrounds, athletic fields, basketball courts and paved playing surfaces.

The percent of unlocked schools with accessible amenities varied across the communities in this way:

• New Orleans – 23 percent (before Hurricane Katrina)
• Tucson – 50 percent
• Washington/Baltimore – 54 percent
• San Diego – 74 percent
• Columbia – 77 percent
• Minneapolis – 93 percent

“Girls who lived near locked schools tended to be heavier, and neighborhoods with locked schools were disproportionately poor and had larger minority populations,” sayas Molly Scott, lead author of the study and research analyst with RAND, a nonprofit research organization. “These neighborhoods, where risk of obesity is high and public parks and playgrounds are often lacking, could benefit from convenient and safe places for physical activity. And making schools accessible doesn't require construction. It's a policy change.”

Although the RAND Health study didn't find a relationship between school accessibility and increased weekend physical activity rates, the number of locked schools was associated with significantly higher body mass index for the girls. Body mass index, or BMI, is a mathematical formula representing weight relative to height that can be used to determine whether a person is overweight or underweight.

The study found differences in BMI and physical activity by the girls' race and socioeconomic status, consistent with the findings of previous studies. Hispanic and African-American girls had 7.2 percent and 7.8 percent higher BMIs respectively than whites, and non-white girls recorded less physical activity than their white counterparts.

“Studies consistently find that people of different races have different BMIs, but the policy implications of that are often unclear,” Scott says. “This study identifies locked schools as great points of policy intervention where gains in the fight against obesity could potentially be made.”

More research is needed, Scott says, noting that the study did not measure whether the girls in the study actually used the school facilities for exercise. The fact that girls with higher BMIs tended to live in areas with locked schools also could signal that the girls live in a more stressful, high-crime area or a neighborhood with less access to stores that sell healthy food.

The study is titled “Weekend Schoolyard Accessibility, Physical Activity, and Obesity: The Trial of Activity in Adolescent Girls (TAAG) Study.” It will appear in the May issue of Preventive Medicine.


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Study May Lead to New Therapies for Binge Eating Disorder

University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) psychologists have developed an animal model for the binge eating disorder, which affects an estimated one in 20 Americans. The Sprague-Dawley rat model could lead to the identification of physiological mechanisms that distinguish different types of eating disorders and to the creation of new, targeted drug therapies.

In the study, published in the April issue of the International Journal of Obesity, UAB psychologists identified rats who are predisposed to binge on large quantities of palatable food – sugary and high-fat junk foods – in a short period of time. Eating a large amount of palatable food in one sitting, however, did not predict susceptibility to become obese, just as some human binge eaters become obese while others remain lean.

With the animal model, UAB psychologists want to determine the genetic and neurochemical differences that characterize lean from obese binge eaters and obese individuals who don’t binge. This should ultimately lead to more targeted preventative measures and treatment strategies for people with binge-eating disorders and obesity, said the study’s author UAB psychologist Mary Boggiano.

Although binge eating disorder is the most common of all eating disorders, affecting 5 percent of the U.S. population, it does not have a formal mental health diagnosis due to a lack of research. Obesity and binge-eating disorders such as bulimia and binge-purge anorexia affect 40 percent of the population. But often patients are given the same set of treatments regardless of the condition or disorder.

Boggiano assigned rats as "binge prone" or "binge resistant" based on the amount of palatable food, (Oreo cookies), they consistently ate when given a choice between the cookies and regular chow. When only chow was offered, none differed in their intake of chow, but when cookies were presented, the rats ate more cookies. The binge-prone groups’ penchant for junk food may be driven by taste rather than by a preference for any one macronutrient, such as carbohydrates or fats, since they also ate more Froot Loops and Crisco, which do not contain any fat or carbohydrate, respectively.

To the psychologists’ surprise, the amount of junk food the rats ate, whether binge prone or binge resistant, was not predictive of whether the rats became obese. In fact, obesity and obesity resistance was equally represented in both the binge prone and binge resistant groups.
The finding is consistent with humans in that not everyone who frequently craves or eats junk food is obese. The lean binge-prone group resembles bulimia nervosa patients who generally do not gain weight, while the binge-prone obese group parallels patients who binge and gain weight, typical of binge-eating disorder. The binge-resistant obese group mirrors two-thirds of the obese population who consume a high number of calories but do not binge.

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Foundation Announces $500 Million Commitment to Reverse Childhood Obesity in U.S.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) today announced it will commit at least $500 million over the next five years to tackle one of the most urgent public health threats facing the United States: childhood obesity. This is the largest commitment by any foundation to this issue, RWJF says. The foundation's goal is to reverse the epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States by 2015.

During the past four decades, obesity rates have soared among all age groups, more than quadrupling among children ages 6 to 11. Today, more than 33 percent of children and adolescents -- approximately 25 million kids -- are overweight or obese.

Preventing obesity during childhood is critical, because habits that last into adulthood frequently are formed during youth. Research shows that overweight adolescents have up to an 80 percent chance of becoming overweight or obese adults. Earlier onset of obesity leads to the earlier onset of related illnesses, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain types of cancer.

In addition to the toll on U.S. health, obesity also poses a tremendous financial threat to the U.S. economy and health care system. It's estimated that the obesity epidemic costs the United States $117 billion per year in direct health care costs and lost productivity. Childhood obesity alone carries a huge price tag -- up to $14 billion per year in direct healthcare costs to treat kids.

"This is an all-American crisis," says Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A., president and CEO of RWJF. "It affects all Americans, and it will require all of America working together to turn it around. Our commitment is a call to action for families, schools, government, industry, healthcare and philanthropy. To reverse the obesity epidemic and create a culture of health, we must provide families with better access to healthy choices."

The foundation says it will focus on improving access to affordable healthy foods and opportunities for safe physical activity in schools and communities. It will place special emphasis on reaching children at greatest risk for obesity and related health problems: African-American, Latino, Native American, Asian American and Pacific Islander children living in low-income communities.

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New Study Finds That Food Is the Top Advertised Product Seen by Children

As the fight against childhood obesity escalates, the issue of food advertising to children has come under increasing scrutiny. Policymakers in Congress, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and agencies such as the Institute of Medicine (IOM) have called for changes in the advertising landscape, and U.S. food and media industries are developing their own voluntary initiatives related to advertising food to children.

To help inform this debate, the Kaiser Family Foundation today released the largest study ever conducted of TV food advertising to children.

The study, Food for Thought: Television Food Advertising to Children inthe United States, combines content analysis of TV ads with detailed data about children's viewing habits, to provide an estimate of the number and type of TV ads seen by children of various ages. The study found that tweens ages 8-12 see the most food ads on TV, an average of 21 ads a day, or more than 7,600 a year. Teenagers see slightly fewer ads, at 17 a day, for a total of more than 6,000 a year. For a variety of reasons -- because they watch less TV overall, and more of their viewing is on networks that have limited or no advertising, such as PBS and Disney -- children ages 2-7 see the least number of food ads, at 12 food ads a day, or 4,400 a year.

For each age group studied, food was the top product seen advertised. Thirty-two percent of all ads seen by 2-7 year olds were for food, while 25% of ads seen by 8-12 year olds and 22% of ads seen by 13-17 year olds were for food. Of all genres on TV, shows specifically designed for children under 12 have the highest proportion of food advertising (50% of all ad time).

"Children of all ages see thousands of food ads a year, but tweens seemore than any other age group," says Vicky Rideout, vice president and director of the Program for the Study of Entertainment Media and Health at the Kaiser Family Foundation. "Since tweens are at an age where they're just becoming independent consumers, understanding what type of advertising they are exposed to is especially important."

Types of Food Advertised. Of all food ads in the study that target children or teens, 34% are for candy and snacks, 28% are for cereal, and 10% are for fast foods. Four percent are for dairy products and 1% for fruit juices. Of the 8,854 ads reviewed in the study, there were none for fruits or vegetables targeting children or teens.

Appeals Employed to Advertise Food. One in five (20%) food ads targeting children or teens include a push to a website, and a similar proportion (19%) include the offer of a premium, such as a game or toy. About one in ten (11%) have a tie-in to a children's TV or movie character.

Physical Activity Portrayed. Fifteen percent of all food ads targeting children or teens include depictions of a physically active lifestyle, such as showing children skateboarding, snowboarding, or playing basketball.

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