Advertisings Effect on Childrens Nutrition - Case Study Example

Advertising’s Effect on Children’s Nutrition Although it has not been determined just exactly how much television is watched per day by America’s children as the studies conducted thus far vary on their outcomes, it has been found that children spend a majority of their time outside of school and sleep sitting in front of the television. New channels such as Nickelodeon and Disney Cartoon, designed to specifically cater to the young child, make efforts to provide quality programming without some of the violence, drug use and sexual innuendo featured in more prime time shows making many parents feel more comfortable about this T.V. watching time. However, children continue to be exposed to a great deal of highly sophisticated, influential and enticing advertising even on these networks, introducing concepts that are not necessarily conducive to a child’s well-being and has proven to have a negative effect upon a child’s nutritional choices. Research regarding the behavioral outcomes of television advertising found that it is a significant factor in determining the specific items, including food items, children request. Although it was recognized early on that advertising would generate most of the operating revenues for television programming, it wasn’t until the 1960s that advertisers began creating commercials targeted specifically toward children as a means of adding to their audience, and therefore consumer, base (Adler, 1980). Understanding that children do not have the same cognitive power as adults, more than 60 psychologists have voiced their concerns to the American Psychological Association (APA) regarding television advertisements to children, citing in their report several countries that have legislated restrictions for the advertising to children. These countries include Greece, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Canada. According to these studies, children eight years old and younger do not understand that advertisements serve a different purpose than other television programs. They completely believe what the television tells them so advertising to them is ‘like shooting fish in a barrel.’ Advertising to young children takes full advantage of their naiveté, a practice that, in any other context, is generally illegal and unquestionably immoral (Kunkel et al, 2004). Television commercials promoting foods often misrepresent their products to impressionable children, as well as adults, regarding the product’s nutritional values, or lack of. “Health experts believe that constant promotion of high-calorie food is contributing to the epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States by encouraging preferences for junk food and contributing to poor eating habits” (Byrd-Bredbenner & Grasso, 2000). There remains a strong association between obesity, regardless of age, and the amount of time spent watching television. The wide-spread problem, known as the ‘couch-potato’ syndrome, is considered to be the result of consuming large amounts of snack foods which are high in calories and fat content while watching television. As children watch their favorite shows, they are enticed by yet more types of ‘junk food.’ They then quickly and loudly inform the parents of the new product they ‘must have’ who then, more often than not, buy the product. It’s an endless cycle enabling what has become an epidemic of obese children. Instead of playing outside and burning up calories, children are content to sit and snack. The ‘couch potato’ syndrome is curable however. Studies have shown that obese children lose weight when they are allowed to spend less time in front of the television (Miller, 1999). A very informative book exploring the many ways in which children who are overweight both become that way and tend to stay that way was produced by Dr. Sylvia Rimm. The book, entitled Rescuing the Emotional Lives of Overweight Children, also explores the role of television in the lives of children. Starting with an increasing concern for ‘latchkey’ children, who often come home to an empty house and are required, for safety reasons, to remain indoors until the parents come home, often after dark, television is seen as one of their primary means of entertainment, ensuring these children receive a large dose of advertisements on a daily basis. The constant advertisements continually entice the child to eat, contributing to and exacerbating their overweight status. These advertisements serve to equate junk food with togetherness and interaction, something the lonely child desperately craves. This concept also brings in several emotional concerns for these children as food, especially food with low nutritional quality and high sugar content, becomes equated with love, good times, special occasions and celebration, feelings the child imagines as they consume the foods pictured. At the same time, because of natural awkwardness, as the result of an increasing middle section, or lack of ability to go out and practice, many of these kids are not as coordinated, quick, able or flexible as other kids, inducing a further punishment idea behind the concept of activity which further pushes them to avoid exercise and plant themselves in front of the T.V. (Rimm, 2004). Whether it is recognized it or not, the media plays a large role in how people define themselves as men and women, whether they are active or inactive, happy, sad, successful, attractive or a dozen other questions regarding who and what they are. Because of their increased susceptibility to advertising, these ideas hold doubly true for children. The definitions they use to define themselves come from the images they are presented with in combination with subtle clues that both reflect and define the social culture. Because advertisers are trying to gain the attention of their target consumer group, they work hard to depict the ideals of the society. If young and slim is attractive, they will work that into their presentation in as many ways as they can. If macho and hard is the current fashion, this, too, will be reflected in the way a product is marketed. These images and ideas can create a skewed concept in the mind of the mostly isolated child that most of the world survives on the types of products being advertised without suffering the same adverse effects they are experiencing, further supporting a self-concept that holds there is something defective in the individual that they continue to gain additional weight instead of looking like the supermodels and heroes seen on T.V. An example of how this works can be traced by analyzing a series of Coca-Cola commercials. Very low on nutritional content, but high on the scales contributing to obesity, these commercials appeal to the young T.V. viewer’s sense of isolation with a promise of togetherness, healthy family connections and exciting activity. In advertisements run in the late 1990s, the company uses size characteristics to denote between two geometric characters to comprise the action in an animation display explicitly targeted to children. The roughly triangular pieces of red clay interact in a positive message of connection. It opens with a storm cloud following a smaller shape character and the chance meeting of this character with the larger shape. When viewed from the perspective of the child, or with the child in mind as target audience as the use of claymation would seem to suggest, this larger shape would naturally appear to be larger because of an age difference, in the connotation of a parent or adult assisting a young child. The larger shape expresses concern for the smaller shape and quickly reshapes itself into the form of a ladder, enabling the smaller character to climb above the cloud, literally walking upon the larger shape to achieve the higher ground. The smaller shape rests there for a moment while the larger character snaps back to its original configuration. Then the cloud disappears, bringing the two shapes together in the shape of a coke bottle (“Coca-Cola Advertising”, 2006). By reducing the imagery down to this tri-tone simple claymation, Coca-Cola is able to reduce its message to two basic ideas upon first thought. The first encourages people to reach out and help one another. Specifically, larger people are expected to reach out and help smaller people. For most children, and adults, watching this commercial, this would be perceived as a warm message of simple human compassion and affirmation of a kind community. This sense of human connection appeals to the child sitting alone in front of the T.V. as they feel more included with this action than anything happening in the home at the time of airing. To the overweight child, this translates in literal terms of physical size, blurring the line between age and weight distinctions and encouraging them to take a subservient role to average weight children of their own age even as sharing a Coke is seen as a means of connection. This brings us around to the second immediate message of the commercial, which indicates that sharing a Coke is the best way to celebrate this warm connection. In this way, Coke becomes associated with friendship, support and celebrations. To the child sitting alone in front of the T.V., whether parents are home or not, this concept becomes connected in a cause and effect loop – if warm feelings happen when sharing a Coke, then drinking a Coke can bring on warm feelings. Because they want to be a part of this action, they get up and get a Coke out of the refrigerator or demand that their parents buy more. The simple reminder of the sweet taste of the drink, brought on by the reminder of celebrations and good feelings, encourages all children to grab a Coke and the sound of the rain used in connection with the storm cloud provides another subtle push toward the refrigerator. At this point, even when the refrigerator offers the option between a Coke and their favorite kind of fruit juice, the child will almost always reach for the Coke because that was the last product they’ve seen. Coca-Cola also introduced its Polar Bear campaign in the 1990s. Again, the company was careful to imbue its characters with as gender neutral characteristics as possible and attempted to solve the geometric problem by defining precisely what was intended in any size differences used. This was accomplished by making all small bears cubs and all larger bears adults. Throughout the series, the baby bears can be seen interacting with each other as equals: equally caring, equally contentious, equally mischievous and equally adorable. In nearly all cases, it is impossible to determine if the babies are male, female or one of each. At the same time, it is often difficult to decide whether the larger polar bear watching over the small ones is the female or the male parent. In those instances when the gender of the adult bear is made known, it is often somehow surprising. The mother, acting in the masculine role of protector, catches her cub just before he falls down a hill. The father, with a mother’s compassionate smile of understanding, instantly forgives the troublesome cub as they share another bottle of Coke. By portraying the American ideal of a loving, happy family – usually consisting of mother, father and two cubs – in which gender roles are blurred and shared as the cubs become quintessential children and as the parents become mutually caring, mutually responsible, equally capable elders, Coke is appealing to the desire of many of its viewers. Like the geometric shape commercial, it promises a feeling of community and connections in a disconnected world. It provides a sense of a true family and the possibility of joining them in their celebration by sharing a Coke. Again drawn with animation and in its use of common childhood activities, the series is intended to appeal to young children even as it works to exploit any current needs for refreshment through the sound effects of polar bears shushing through the snow and the reminder of strenuous activity. It is fun, active, busy and, above all, inclusive. Coca-Cola is by far not the only company to exploit feelings of loneliness to sell their product, or to attempt to appeal primarily to the younger audience. They are used as the example here because of their admirable attempt to also convey positive community and responsibility attitudes while doing so. Indeed, many products with a nutritional value approximating that of Coke use less subtle and more powerful methods of inducing hunger and thirst in the minds of their young viewers, encouraging snacking during any and all T.V. watching. The impact this has on the nutrition of young children can be devastating. Recent studies indicate that almost 44 percent of all advertisements aired during the programs watched most by children aged 6-11 marketed nutrient-poor high-sugar foods such as candy and soft drinks (Harrison & Marske, 2005). The study also found that 34.2 percent of these commercials featured convenience or fast food products, similarly low on quality nutritional content. According to the lead author of the study, Kristen Harrison, these two food groups “exceed the Recommended Daily Values of fat, saturated fat and sodium, and fail to provide the Recommended Daily Values of fiber and certain vitamins and minerals” (Harrison & Marske, 2005). This leaves little room for encouragement of a nutritious diet, the most common health-related message seen being that the advertised food contained ‘some natural ingredients.’ Almost from the very beginning, television has been seen as a means to market products of various types to the general public, including children, yet little has been done to ensure the quality of this programming on the marketing side. Studies have shown the extreme susceptibility of children to this type of messaging system, especially in the context of the skill and subtlety advertisers can bring to bear in these commercials, yet there remain few countries with specific restrictions regarding what type of advertisements can be shown to children, and certainly no restrictions in the United States regarding the exploitation of their naiveté. The danger to children’s health can be tracked most easily through their nutritional choices, which are often made based upon the most recent advertisement they’ve seen. In turn, advertisements are complex, carefully created productions based upon the most recent science and market research for maximum appeal and profitability. Responding to these messages, children lacking in the cognitive discrimination abilities of adults, who also tend to fall prey to these advertisements, tend to reach for the last item marketed to them. As a large proportion of advertisements feature products of little or no nutritional value, this nutrient-poor diet becomes the predominant diet of these children’s formative years, contributing to overweight status and numerous psychological and physiological issues to be faced now and in the future. Works Cited Adler, R.P. “Children's Television Advertising: History of the Issue.” Children and the Faces of Television: Teaching, Violence, Selling. A. Dorr and E. Palmer (Eds.). New York: Academic Press, (1980). Byrd-Bredbenner C & Grasso D. “Commercials During 1992 and 1998.” Journal of School Health. Vol. 70, (2000), pp. 61-65. November 13, 2006 “Coca-Cola Advertising.” Press Center. 2006. Coca-Cola Company. November 13, 2006 Cooper, Garry. “TV Advertising is Bad for Children.” Associated Counselors and Therapists. Hermosa Beach, CA: (June 4, 2004). November 13, 2006 Harrison, Kristen & Marske, Amy. “Nutritional Content of Foods Advertised During the Television Programs Children Watch Most.” American Journal of Public Health. (September 2005). Kunkel, Dale; Wilcox, Brian; Cantor, Joanne; Palmer, Edward; Linn, Susan; & Dowrick, Peter. “Report of the APA Task Force on Advertising and Children Section: Psychological Issues in the Increasing Commercialization of Childhood.” American Psychological Association: (February 20, 2004). November 13, 2006 Miller, Daphne. “Television’s Effects on Kids: It Can be Harmful!” CNN. (August 20, 1999). November 13, 2006 Rimm, Sylvia. Rescuing the Emotional Lives of Overweight Children. New York: St Martin’s Press, (2004). Read More