Essay about Effects of Advertising on School Children

Submitted By Alexis-Mize
Words: 953
Pages: 4
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Time for a change
Many Schools often sell add space as a way to make money and contract with companies such as Coke or Pepsi sell their products in exchange for a share profit. I believe this has a negative effect on school children of all ages. As soon as kids get home they watch television until time for them to go to sleep. So that means that children spend most of there night watching unhealthy food advertisements on television now even worse is that they are bringing the advertisement to schools, which is were kids spend majority of their day. Many of the advertisements promote unhealthy foods and mainly sugary sodas that may taste good but aren’t necessarily the best for you. I think that adverting unhealthy food can cause bad eating habits, obesity, and unnecessary wants.
One of the most common influences on young children’s bad eating habits is everyday food advertisement. The food industry spends more than $1.6 billion per year in child- and teen-targeted marketing of their products. The average child in the United States views 13 food ads on television each day, and food advertising represents approximately 30% of all paid television advertising viewed by children. Nearly all foods featured in advertising targeted toward young people have high levels of calories, total fat, saturated fat, sugar, or sodium. They are unhealthy, calorie-dense, nutrient-poor foods, or “junk” foods and often lead to many bad eating habits (Hibbs 1) The main foods that are in the spotlight of advertising include Candy, soft drink, and sweetened cereals, and the thought of it being advertised but also at school is atrocious.
Secondly, the advertisements cause a main issue of society, which is childhood obesity. Childhood obesity is a medical condition that affects children all over the world, but is more common in the United States. “In the United States, one third of children and adolescents are overweight or obese, yet food and beverage companies continue to target them with advertising for products that contribute to this obesity crisis.” (Harris 1) Every time young kids go to school although they may not notice but the small commercialization through out the school is constantly trying to persuade them to try the newest sugary soda or interesting candy bar. “Public health experts conclude that this epidemic of childhood obesity and poor diet cannot be resolved without dramatic changes in the obesogenic food environment that surrounds young people and to which food advertising is a major contributor.” (Harris 1) Advertisements have huge impact young children’s diet and health, including increased consumption of snack foods, sugar-sweetened beverages, and fast food, which means higher body mass indexes. (Paraphrase of Protecting Young People From Junk Food Advertising: Implications of Psychological Research for First Amendment Law)
Lastly, I believe that unhealthy food advertisements cause unnecessary wants. Most kids will go to school and see advertisements made by McDonald’s and see brand new toys in a happy meal, which will make children want to get an unhealthy meal just because of the toy. Sometimes kids will not even eat the food but just take the toy, which is definitely, and unnecessary want. In the older days they used to show advertisements of toys in sugary cereal boxes to persuade the children to beg there parents for the box of cereal with a toy in it next time at the grocery store. “ One study found that cereal makers spend more than $150 million per year in commercials aired during children's shows. The highest-sugar cereals are the most profitable ones on the market. Overall, according to the study, "children's" cereals have more sugar, calories,
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