Blog post 4: Junk Foods and Advertisements

Do you watch television? Or play online games?

I watch television and play online games since I was very young, I was influenced by my brother and cousins to play online games and back then, I would always spend time with my parents by watching TV with them. It was fun when I was so young, I could do anything- well, not really, I only have little freedom- I only have a freedom to eat what i mostly want but I have more freedom now than when i was young.

Back then, Watching and playing was my normal routines when I was young but as i got older, I had to go to school and study, got bored of watching and playing. Instead, I would hang out with friends or sleep- mostly sleep.

Advertisements everywhere. We always see advertisements; going to school, on TV, online, even in public comfort rooms, you name it. Does Ads affect us? Junk Foods Ads?

As I explored some articles about Advertisements of Junk Foods, I happened to stumble in a piece entitled "Junk Food Makers Target Kids With Free Online Games, Study Says" by Kathleen Doheny in www.medicinenet.com.  The article tells about Advertisements, which caught my attention. I asked myself, "How does advertisements relate to Junk Foods?"

On the article, It is said that online games are promoting food products that are unhealthy-Junk Foods- through games, known as 'advergames'. Weatherspoon's team found that the food they advertise were unhealthy and did not meet government guidelines.

Also, Christakis-a professor and director of the Center for Child Health- have said that the more TV children watch, the less healthy are their diet and that children choose to eat things that are advertised. They have agreed that more regulations is needed or that parents should supervise their children's use of online games.

It was intriguing for me, to think that advertisements can affect on how or what children eats. How it is wrong to expose children to advertisements- it depends on what kind of advertisements. As I was still reflecting to what I've just learned, I saw another article in www.naturalnews.com entitled, "Junk food ads on TV strongly influence children's eating habits," by Sally Oaken.

In this article, It is said that children exposed to ads for unhealthy food products has a tendency to consume unhealthy foods in higher amounts and face a increased risk of obesity and health problems.

This article also showed the surveys with regards to the topic. It showed that Children between ages of six and thirteen would choose high fat, high carbohydrate, high protein and low energy foods. It also has been found that children exposed to unhealthy food ads are more likely to show unhealthy eating preferences, effects are pronounced who typically watched more than 21 hours of TV per week.

So, Just by looking at advertisements, you are influenced on doing something as the article have said. Being able to realize that advertisements can influence what you eat or drink is very skeptical. As others said, "You are what you eat."


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