Kids eat a bag of chips every hour they watch TV
A US study has concluded that children consume the caloric equivalent of a bag of potato chips for every hour they spend in front of a television. Food advertising in implicated in causing unconscious eating among young viewers.
The study followed 550 children aged 11 to 13 over a period of 20 months. For each hour they spent watching television, their food intake was found at the end of the period to have increased by 167 calories a day. (A packet of crisps contains around 180 calories, while a can of Coke has 140)
Numerous scientific studies have shown that children who watch more TV have a higher calorie intake, but advertisers argue that this is a result of their more sofa-bound lifestyle rather than of the adverts they are watching.
Dr Wiecha, however, said her work contradicted this. “Although children and youth are encouraged to watch what they eat, many youth seem to eat what they watch,” the report’s authors wrote.
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