TV Ads Influence Underage Drinking and Obesity in Youth, Studies Say - East Idaho News

TV Ads Influence Underage Drinking and Obesity in Youth, Studies Say

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GETTY H 042912 TVADS1?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1335722471705iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Two new studies found that kids who recognize fast-food advertisements on TV are more likely to be overweight and kids who are familiar with TV ads for alcoholic beverages are more likely to drink, Health Day reports.

The studies were conducted at the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. The alcohol study involved 2,500 young people aged 15 to 20 years old, and the fast-food study involved 3,300 young people aged 15 to 23.

Researchers found that 59 percent of the kids drank and 49 percent had engaged in binge drinking at least one time over the past year. They also learned that the drinkers were much more familiar with alcohol ads on TV, and that owning alcohol-branded merchandise or having a favorite alcohol ad was connected to more dangerous drinking, according to Health Day.

Researchers in the second study found that 18 percent of the young people were overweight and 15 percent were obese. They learned that the percentage of obese young people was significantly higher among those who recognized more fast-food ads than those who just recognized a few, and that those who recognized a lot of ads were twice as likely to be obsese than those who knew just a few of them, Health Day says.

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