It isn’t your imagination: your children really do want junk food snacks after watching the TV. A new study has shown that food ads are more persuasive than parents.

In a series of experiments children aged between 3 and 5 were allowed to choose a coupon for healthy apple slices or the french fries they saw advertised during cartoons.

As part of the research, parents would either advise the children to select the healthier choice, or give them permission to choose the food they wanted most.

In the instances when children had watched a commercial for fries, 71 per cent of the children chose french fries for their snack if their parents acted neutral, while only 55 per cent would opt to eat fries if their parents had urged them to make the healthier choice.

“Children were clearly influenced by the commercials they saw; however, parents are not powerless,” said study author Dr. Christopher Ferguson of Texas A&M International University.

Elsewhere in the study, Ferguson’s team concluded that commercials directed at kids may have “a small but meaningful effect on their healthy food choices.”

Millions of pounds will go into marketing junk food to our children every year – converting them to brands at an early age. Is this right?  Sustain’s Children’s food campaign has been lobbying Governemnt and the food industry to protect children from junk food marketing.

Find out more:

Read more about Sustain’s campaign and take action.

Take some 1970’s inspiration from cult show – Why don’t you (just switch off the TV off and go outside and do something more boring instead.)

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