The Effect of Television Advertising on Childhood Consumption and Weight Outcomes

Children and adolescents are increasingly consuming fast food which is associated with high caloric intake and poor diet quality. This study examines the relationships between exposure to fast-food television advertising and consumption and weight outcomes. This study combines Nielsen media fast food advertising data with the Early Longitudinal Childhood Study, Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS –K) and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003-08 by designated market areas using interview dates and zip code-level geographic identifiers to examine the relationships between advertising exposure and consumption and weight outcomes. We estimate the effects of past media advertising, where the cumulative sum of media exposure is calculated for up to 3 months prior to individual interview dates and then deflated using distance from interview dates to obtain both linear and depreciated average food media exposure for each child in each year. Results from the merged analyses with the ECLS-K indicate that the cumulative exposure to fast food media during the past year significantly affected the current frequency of fast food consumption by children and adolescent respondents in ECLS-K based on estimation using longitudinal random effects models. We find limited effects of advertising exposure on weight outcomes, on average. Study findings will provide new evidence on the extent to which exposure to fast food advertising impacts children's consumption and body weight with implications for the importance of strengthening self-regulatory pledges or in traducing more formal regulations to limit children's exposure to unhealthy fast food advertising.