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Many Latino preschool kids deal with heavy advertisements of unhealthy food marketing and consume more sugary beverages and junk foods than their peers. Now a new study highlights the importance of healthier food marketing to kids of preschool age.
The study reported on in Pediatrics found that food advertisement exposure may actually encourage more eating among the young, and depending on which foods are offered, could be adding to a risk for unhealthy weights.
Sixty children ages two to five were given a healthy snack then asked to watch a 14-minute TV ad, half watching an ad about food, the other half watching an ad featuring a department store. They were then given an option after seeing the ads to consume more snack foods, where the kids who saw the food ad ate 30 more calories than those who saw the store ad.
Reducing children’s exposure to food ads has been seen as an encouraging way to reduce consumption of unhealthy foods, now this study helps provide proof that reducing food ads, in general, may actually help ensure kids grow up to be a healthy weight.
All kids deserve the right to grow up a healthy weight and eat delicious nutritious foods. Ensuring all children learn healthy eating habits, especially at young ages, may help reduce chronic diseases like diabetes and obesity.
To learn more about this study, click here.
To read more about healthy food environments for Latino kids and get involved, click here!
By The Numbers
74
percent
of Latino kids have had a sugary drink by age 2 (vs. 45% of white kids)
