Rudd Center Releases Report on Effects of TV Food Advertising on Consumption

Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity has released the results of experimental studies examining the relationship between TV food advertising and consumption. Titled “Priming Effects of Television Food Advertising on Eating Behavior,” the article appears in the July edition of Health Psychology and concludes that “food advertising on television increases automatic snacking on available foods in children and adults.” Authors Jennifer Harris, John Bargh and Kelly Brownell observed elementary-school-aged children who received a snack while watching programs that featured either food advertising or advertising for other products. The authors also followed adults exposed to (i) “food advertising that promoted snacking and/or fun product benefits”; (ii) “food advertising that promoted nutrition benefits” or (iii) “no food advertising.” The adults then “tasted and evaluated a range of healthy to unhealthy snack foods.” According to the article, the children “consumed 45 percent more when exposed to food advertising,” while adults “consumed more of both healthy and unhealthy snack foods following exposure to snack food advertising compared to the other conditions.”

“This research shows a direct and powerful link between television food advertising and calories consumed by adults and children,” stated Harris, who also serves as the Rudd Center’s director of marketing initiatives. “Food advertising triggers automatic eating, regardless of hunger, and is a significant contributor to the obesity epidemic. Reducing unhealthy food advertising to children is critical.” See U.S. News & World Report HealthDay, July 1, 2009.