commercials cause childhood obesity

Its official. A study from the University of California shows that its not the amount of TV your child is watching that predicts obesity but the content. The study shows that children who watch more commercials have a higher risk for childhood obesity. Read the NYT article here about the report.

Here’s an excerpt.

“Fred Zimmerman, the study’s lead author and chairman of U.C.L.A.’s Department of Health Services, said television commercials for sweetened cereals, junk food and fast food chains probably had an insidious influence over a child’s food preferences. The more television commercials a child is exposed to, the more likely he or she will be to try those foods and want to continue eating them, which then increases risk for weight gain.”

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