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Essay / The influence of television advertisements on unhealthy eating habits in children
In one year, the average child will have watched 20,000 to 40,000 different television advertisements, the majority of them relating to food. These ads don't just tell you that you should buy their product. These companies need to entice their audience to buy their product. So, they implement feelings of love, friendship, empathy and memories in their advertisements. Once these children watch the commercial(s) and go to the supermarket with their mom or dad, a trigger will go off in their brain and they will remember that "wonderful" commercial that showed other people having fun with it. this particular food. The problem here, however, is that these TV food commercials show foods high in saturated fat, trans fat, sugar and sodium, which have been called causes of childhood obesity. If children watch these advertisements, they are more likely to eat foods that are quite unhealthy for them. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an Original Essay As a child, I always saw these ads when I watched a TV show or movie. So how did I get away with this whole publicity thing? Did they “get to me”? I remember as a kid watching the Reese's Puffs commercials (I still remember the lyrics to this day) and thinking I wanted to try this cereal. I was a quiet boy and I wasn't one of those kids who screamed or cried to get what he wanted. If I didn't get something I wanted, whether it was food or a toy, my mom or dad would tell me why, instead of just saying no. This was also reflected in the commercials, where I knew it was best to fall for whatever they showed. My mom and dad just told me that this cereal contains a lot of sugar and that too much sugar is bad for your health. Sure, there were times when my parents would let me have cereal or a snack that wasn't good for me (once or twice a month) and that was cool. It never became a habit to eat foods high in fat or sugar. As I grew up, I began to realize how many advertisements there were for “bad” foods. If I watched a 30 minute TV show, I would probably see at least ten commercials for McDonald's or Burger King. As soon as I got into filmmaking, around the age of ten, I started analyzing and observing television commercials and over the years there were more and more food commercials. which society considered “fast food”. According to the National Center for Biotechnology, "Among children 2 to 5 years old and 6 to 11 years old, respectively, 84.1 and 84.4% of advertisements seen in all programs and 95.8 and 97.3% in the children's programs concerned products rich in NTL (nutrients to limit)." This just proves that what I observed when I was ten years old was correct. When was the last time you saw a lettuce or broccoli commercial on TV? Yes, you might see a slice of tomato or lettuce on a Burger King burger, but you never see vegetables presented in good lighting unless they're canned. There should be no advertising of vegetables. They should be part of our daily lives. No vegetable contains a lot of trans fat, sugar and sodium, which are the three ingredients that increase dopamine and serotonin today..