Scholarship

Arcan, C, et al. “Child Nutrition: Television (TV) and TV Advertisement Influences on Children's Eating Behaviour.” Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development, Sept. 2013, www.child-encyclopedia.com/child-nutrition/according-experts/television-tv-and-tv- advertisement-influences-childrens-eatin.

This popular source described the lack of government regulations enforcing companies to either give a warning about their harmful product or not advertise their product at all to children. This article, however, gave better insight on the need for television program companies to make better regulations on their own since the government regulations are very weak. Since most television companies self regulate anyway, there needs to be a stronger filtering system on what advertisements they display that way children are not overly exposed to glorified foods that are nutritionally poor leading to an unhealthy lifestyle. The source also gave statistics describing the positive correlation between children’s negative health and their exposure to advertisements displaying unhealthy foods.

“Cynicism Starts Early in Children.” WebMD, WebMD, 27 May 2005, www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20050527/cynicism-starts-early- "in-children#1.

This popular source discussed research on the gullibility of children. The article described how children are much more gullible than adults which makes it easier for advertisers to appeal to them for children targeted products. This also affects children’s behaviors after being exposed to an advertisement. Children are more likely to believe the item is healthy and fun even if the item may actually be nutritionally poor. Children are also more susceptible to false advertising. The article helped support how there needs to be more government regulations in place to ensure the safety of the health of children until they are old enough to develop more mature skepticism.

“Impact of Media Use on Children and Youth.” Paediatrics & Child Health, Pulsus Group Inc, May 2003, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2792691/.

This popular source gave insight into some of the positive ways advertisements can be used. The article described how companies selling unhealthy products spend a portion of their budget and advertisement stating the warnings. This in the end, gives teenagers and viewers all of the important information before they choose to consume the product. Although the company is still advertising an unhealthy product they are not glorifying the product and are giving the consumer the consequences of the product which clearly lets the consumer know the product is dangerous to them. Teenagers and children will be aware of the product before they start an unhealthy habit that can be addictive for the rest of their adult lives. The article gave a positive way advertisements can be used if done properly.

Lagomarsino, Maria, and L. Suzanne Suggs. “Choosing Imagery in Advertising Healthy Food to Children.” Journal of Advertising Research, vol. 58, no. 4, 2018, pp. 487–498., doi:10.2501/jar-2018-003.http://www.journalofadvertisingresearch.com/content/58/4/487

This academic source studied what technique is most effective for advertising healthy products to children. The source gave children a picture, a drawing, a cartoon, a picture of a child eating the food item, and a cartoon eating the food item. The study showed that the picture was most effective in appealing healthy food items such as broccoli, fruit, water, and others to children. This study, more importantly, demonstrated that just like an unhealthy food item, an advertisement can glorify a healthy product to children. The source displayed a positive outcome of advertisements and conveyed how advertisements can be used for good.

Kunkel, Dale, Christopher McKinley, and Paul Wright. The impact of industry self-regulation on the nutritional quality of foods advertised on television to children. Oakland, CA: Children Now, 2010.

https://www.foodpolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/adstudy09_report-1.pdf

This academic report studied how many advertisements displayed on children’s programs were displaying an unhealthy food item and a healthy food item. Their study found that the majority of advertisements shown to children were an unhealthy food item. The study gave important insight that part of the reason there may be an increase in advertisements displaying an unhealthy product is that many companies do not abide by the regulations set by government agencies. Instead, many companies are “self-regulated.” The report supported how television programs themselves who self regulate is responsible for restricting their amount of unhealthy product advertisements targeted towards children during their programs and sell to companies with a healthier product.

Sukamolson, S., et al. “Protecting Children's Health from Television Advertising of Food.” Science Direct, Elsevier Inc., Dec. 2012, www-sciencedirect-com.proxy-um.researchport.umd.edu/science/article/pii/S1551741112002951.

This academic source gave important statistics and research about how often advertisements targeting children are shown on television programs and how many of them advertise an unhealthy product. The study showed that 69% of television programs advertised for 10 minutes or more during each hour and 33% of those advertisements described an unhealthy product. The source also described how a majority of children’s television programs do not follow rules set by the Notification of the Public Relations Department Announcement. The study supported the argument of how stricter government regulations are needed along with consequences to ensure the safety and censorship of unhealthy messages to children.