The study revealed that Individuals who are more familiar with television commercials of fast-food restaurants may have food consumption patterns that include many types of high-calorie food brands, or they may be especially sensitive to visual cues to eat while watching TV

Obesity among young people? Blame it on the television commercials of fast-food restaurants. While eating a lot of fast food increases the risk of obesity, a new research shows that even the exposure to television advertising on fast-food restaurants is linked with obesity in young people.

The research was conducted by Paediatric Academic Societies (PAS). According to Auden C McClure, MD, MPH, FAAP and assistant professor in the Department of Paediatrics at Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, “We know that children and adolescents are highly exposed to fast-food restaurant advertising, particularly on television. This study links obesity in young people to familiarity with this kind of advertising, suggesting that youth who are aware of and receptive to televised fast-food marketing may be at risk for health consequences.”

While earlier research had shown that obesity is associated with watching television, this research was aimed to determine whether recognition of fast-food ads on TV is associated with obesity in adolescents and young adults.

The researchers surveyed 3,342 youths, between the ages of 15 to 23 years. They were asked details such as height, weight, age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, and exercise, along with other questions like their consumption of soda or sweet drinks, frequency of eating at quick-service restaurants, how many hours they watched TV each day, and whether they snacked while watching TV.

The participants were also shown 20 still images, digitally edited to remove the brand, selected from television ads for leading restaurants, serving fast food, that were aired in the year before the survey. They were asked if they remembered seeing, if they liked the ad and if they could name the restaurant brand. They were also shown 20 ads for alcohol.

According to the survey, 18% of the participants were found to be overweight and 15% were obese. It revealed that the percentage of youth who were obese was significantly higher among those who recognized more ads than those who recognized few ads (17% Vs 8.3%). The research also said that even after controlling for the listed variables, youths who recognized many ads were more than twice as likely to be obese compared with those who recognized few ads.

Dr McClure explains that, “A similar association with obesity was not found for familiarity with televised alcohol ads, suggesting that the relationship was specific to fast-food advertising content.”  He adds, “After accounting for overall TV time, TV ad familiarity was still linked with obesity suggesting that this finding is not simply due to increased sedentary time or an effect of TV programming.”

Interestingly, according to the research, eating more frequently at fast-food restaurants depicted in the ads was not associated with obesity. “The relation between fast-food marketing and obesity is not simply that it prompts more quick-serve restaurant visits,” said study co-author James D Sargent, MD, FAAP, professor in the Department of Paediatrics at Children's Hospital at Dartmouth. “Individuals who are more familiar with these ads may have food consumption patterns that include many types of high-calorie food brands, or they may be especially sensitive to visual cues to eat while watching TV. More research is necessary to determine how fast-food ad familiarity is linked to obesity,” he added.