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Spanish Language TV Linked To Latino Child Obesity

Children bombarded by fast-food commercials

February 19, 2008    Spanish

Childhood Obesity • Doctor Offers Antidote To 'Super-Size Me' Diet • Spanish Language TV Linked To Latino Child Obesity • States Get Poor Grades on School Food • More Sleep Time May Cut Child Obesity • Kellogg Pledges Food Marketing Changes • Consumer Group Scolds Nickelodeon • CSPI: School Food Plan Should be Law of the Land • TV Food Ads Make Obese Kids Hungrier • Study Finds Food is Most-Advertised Kids Product • Senate Eyes Stricter School Lunch Standards • More Teens Having Weight Loss Surgery • Sedentary Teens More Likely to Have Higher Blood Pressure • Poll: Obesity Top Health Issue for Kids • Pediatricians Want Stricter Controls on Junk Food Ads • Brits Take Action on Junk Food Ads Aimed at Kids --- • More ...

TV can be a negative influence on children's health, whether the message is in English or Spanish, according to research led by pediatricians from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

Their study concludes that Spanish-language television is bombarding children with so many fast-food commercials that it may be fueling the rising obesity epidemic among Latino youth.

Latino children, who make up one-fifth of the U.S. child population, also have the highest obesity and overweight rates of all ethnic groups. A report on the study, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, was released online ahead of print in the Journal of Pediatrics.

"While we cannot blame overweight and obesity solely on TV commercials, there is solid evidence that children exposed to such messages tend to have unhealthy diets and to be overweight," said study lead investigator Darcy Thompson, M.D., M.P.H., a pediatrician at Hopkins Children's.

Past research among English-speaking children has shown that TV ads influence food preferences, particularly among the more impressionable young viewers.

Researchers reviewed 60 hours of programming airing between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m., heavy viewing hours for school-age children, on Univision and Telemundo, the two largest Spanish-language channels in the United States, reaching 99 percent and 93 percent of U.S. Latino households, respectively.

Univision content was recorded from its national network cable in Seattle, and Telemundo content was recorded on a local carrier in Tucson, Ariz. Tallying two or three food commercials each hour, the investigators said one-third specifically targeted children. Nearly half of all food commercials featured fast food, and more than half of all drink commercials promoted soda and drinks with high sugar content.

To counter the effects of food commercials, the researchers suggest, young children should be restricted to two hours a day or less of TV viewing and parents should talk to them about healthy diet and food choices. Children younger than 2 should not be allowed to watch any TV, pediatricians advise.

Other recommendations:

• Pediatricians caring for Latino children should be aware of their patients' heavy exposure to food ads and the possible effects.

• Public health officials should urge policy makers to limit food advertising to children, something many European countries are already doing.

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