HEALTH | TV shows with advertisements increases junk food cravings!

January 16, 2018: According to cancer researchers in UK, the advertisements on commercial television may be driving youngsters to snack on more unhealthy food.

Regular consumption of high calorie food and drink having higher levels of fat and sugar, increases the risk of obesity.

The findings indicated that energy and other fizzy drinks high in sugar, takeaways and chips were some of the foods which were more likely to be eaten by teenagers who watched a lot of TV with adverts.

YouGov surveyed 3,348 young people in the UK between ages 11-19 before releasing its findings.

When teens watched TV without adverts, researchers found no link between screen time and likelihood of eating more junk food.

They also found that teenagers who said they regularly streamed TV shows with ads were more than twice as likely (139 percent) to drink fizzy drinks compared to someone with low advertisement exposure from streaming TV and 65 percent more likely to eat more ready meals than those who streamed less TV.

Lead author Dr Jyotsna Vohra said, "This is the strongest evidence yet that junk food adverts could increase how much teenagers choose to eat."

The research suggested that reducing junk food TV marketing could help to halt the obesity crisis.

Another researcher Linda Bauld said, "Obese children are five times more likely to remain obese as adults which can increase their risk of cancer later in life.

Feature image courtesy: Pinterest

Source: ANI