Are food ads on children's TV linked to childhood overweight?

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A recent literature review concluded that food advertising on television may influence children's food choices and encourage unhealthy diets, but acknowledged a lack of clear evidence for that conclusion.

This ecological study examined a possible link between advertising to children and the risk of overweight using surveys of advertising on children's television and estimates of childhood overweight prevalence in the USA, Australia and eight European countries.

The proportion of children with overweight was significantly associated with the number of advertisements per hour on children's television, especially ads encouraging consumption of energy-dense, micronutrient-poor foods (r = 0.81, P < 0.005). A weaker negative association was found between the proportion of children with overweight and the number of ads encouraging healthier diets (r = -0.56, P < 0.10).

The authors concluded that the quantity of advertising on children's television appeared related to the prevalence of excess body weight among children, and that advertising content appeared to have a specific effect. They said the findings justified precautionary measures to reduce children's exposure to obesogenic marketing practices.