Move over, cigarettes. Junk food is the new bad guy of TV and film

"They're actors -- they don't really do these things in real life..." "Just because something's shown on TV or in the movies doesn't mean it's OK..."  "It's just to give actors something to do with their hands...

Our media portrayals of junk-food talk needs some work. But we'd better get cracking. The data is stacking up, and public service commercials admonishing us to sit our kids down and have earnest parent-child communication about the glamorization of poor nutrition can't be too far behind.

Here are two studies released this week.

- Researchers at Dartmouth Medical School analyzed the use of food, beverage and restaurant brands in the top 20 movies for each year from 1996 through 2005. They concluded: "Food, beverage, and food retail establishment brands are frequently portrayed in movies, and most of the brand placements are for energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods or product lines. Movies are a potent source of advertising to children, which has been largely overlooked."

Here's the study, published online Monday in Pediatrics.

- UCLA researchers, meanwhile, analyzed the shows that children watched and the kids' body mass index. They concluded: "The evidence does not support the contention that television viewing contributes to obesity because it is a sedentary activity. Television advertising, rather than viewing per se, is associated with obesity."

Here's the abstract, published online Monday in the American Journal of Public Health, and the news release.

The research is new, insightful and relevant -- suggesting ways to protect the health of future generations. And yet ... it all seems so familiar.

Here's some advice from kidshealth.org on talking to your kids about smoking. Perhaps some word substitutions are in order.

"Explain how much (fried snack food) governs the daily life of kids who start doing it. How do they afford the (fried snack food)? How do they have money to pay for other things they want? How does it affect their friendships?"

It could work.

-- Tami Dennis

Top photo credit: Koichi Kamoshida / Getty Images. Bottom photo credit: Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Jere Krischel]

Let's just make sure we understand what constitutes junk food - carbohydrates. Fruit juice? Junk food. Whole wheat bread? Junk food. Potatoes? Junk food. Big fatty juicy red meat steaks? Health food. Bacon? Health food. Lard? Health food.

[dave]

hope this is a sarcastic article

[Oz]

"New" bad guy? Really, it seems its the same one it's always been: advertisers and the networks who love their money.

[Ben in Chatsworth]

Remember how the Motion Picture Association of America started including smoking in the rating system? What if they started doing the same for junk food? An otherwise innocuous kid flick that depicts a birthday party could be "rated PG for a scene of birthday cake and French fry consumption." Then we'll know for sure the War on Obesity has gotten beyond ridiculous.

[Stephanie]

I completely agree that parents should discuss this with their children. The more I think about it, often times when I see a food related commercial, be it fast food or causal dining, I get hungry and want to eat junk food. Just the other night I saw a Dominoes commercial and ordered right then and there. As an adult, I have come to understand my limits, but if a child catches on to this too early in life, I fear they would be setting themselves up for an unhealthy lifestyle.

Thanks for pointng this out Tami.

[Dr M]

Actually "junk food" refers to more than just carbohydrates - it includes any food or drink that has minimal nutritional value, and may contain large amounts of less than desirable contents as well.

As a Pediatrician, I see several kids a week with concerning lab values, high blood pressure, and poor lifestyle choices. Kids, more than adults, are influenced by their environment. Unless we educate them correctly, they are more likely to made poor choices without understanding the consequences. It doesn't matter who the "bad guy" is - we adults have to take responsibility for teaching our kids to be healthy and to ignore whatever the media throws at them. If not, we might see more and more kids end up with chronic diseases.