Kid-Focused Marketing of Fast Food Increase the Risk of Obesity Essay

Introduction: Childhood Obesity and the Impact of Fast Food Marketing

The epidemic of childhood obesity is a significant health issue which increases mortality, morbidity and is associated with extended social and economic costs. The obesity rates among children have risen dramatically in the last few years. Several children are already overweight given that the rates of obesity in the pre-school age children are growing at a significant speed. Obesity in childhood frequently places youth and children at risk of being obese in their adulthood and having related poor health conditions like cardiovascular disease and diabetes. The prevention efforts for obesity in children should concentrate on minimizing the excess gaining of weight while the children grow up. Today, most children consume several kinds of media and utilize more time with devices such as televisions, game screens, and computers than any other given activities that they undertake in their lives. Research has stipulated that there exist a firm association between the rise in the marketing of fast food and the rates of obesity among kids. Many kids are unable to distinguish between marketing and programming hence they fail developing an understanding of the intent of persuasive marketing. The kind of marketing that is directed at children when they are in their early ages has the nature of being exploitative. This paper will discuss the effects of kid-focused marketing of fast food on increasing the risk of obesity.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Influence of Fast Food Advertising on Children's Food Choices and Obesity

According to Ali et al. (76) children usually have the remarkable ability to recall the content that they acquire from the advertisements that they have become exposed to. The preference of product has been found to occur from as little as one commercial exposure, and it strengthens with consistent exposures. The product preferences influence the requests of product purchases of the children, and the requests affect the purchasing decisions of parents. Children obesity increases with the increase in hours that kids spend watching television. The exposure to television advertisement of children that market food products that are unhealthy such as fast food stands as being a prominent risk factor that causes obesity. The beverage and food industry has for the past years started resolving the self-regulate of their marketing targeting children although this has not resulted in significant enhancement in the healthier food marketing to the children. Most of the fast foods that are advertised targeting children fall into categories of food that are unhealthy which contribute to the epidemic of obesity.

The fast food advertisement on the television consists of about 50% of all the advertisement in the children's shows. The marketing of fast food is almost dominated by the food products that are unhealthy. In many cases, children become rarely exposed to the announcements or marketing of public service for healthier foods. Given that children who are in the age bracket of 8-12 years are the ones who receive the highest exposure and advertisement rates, they are more likely to enter a crucial development stage; a stage where they are expected to establish food habits, making food choices on their own and having the money that they can spend on the food types that they enjoy. Therefore, the marketing of fast food may make the children adopt an unhealthy lifestyle.

Marketing of Fast Food on Television and Its Dominance in Unhealthy Food Products

The marketing of fast food to the children on the internet has been found being more complicated given that the boundaries between pure advertising and content advertising are frequently less clear than the advertisement on the television. There are only a few advertisements on the internet that entail reminders to help the children distinguish pure from content advertising. Most of the food brands that are marketed on television to children are also promoted on the internet and usually includes online games that are heavily branded. The online games may offer more highly entertaining and involving brand experience than the conventional media. Viral marketing is customarily utilized in encouraging children to start talking to others concerning the website of a brand by inviting them to begin visiting the site. The continuous branding through the use of several sites usually amplifies and reinforces the message of the products to the children who regularly have the remarkable ability to recall the content from the advertisements that they are exposed to.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the fast food businesses spend significant marketing mount to acquire the children's attention. Individuals usually form their habits of eating when they are in their childhood hence the fast food companies attempt nurturing children who are their potential clients. The implication of the marketing of fast food on the increased rates of obesity among children is complicated since it deals with interplay that exists between the features of children, parents' attitude and the environmental settings. Additionally, children at their early ages cannot distinguish the marketing of fast food that is good for them and the food that is not good. Several fast food companies are exploiting children through marketing to make their company good. The fast-food businesses are utilizing the favorite characters of children and relating the concepts of products such as happiness and fun in their marketing of fast food such that children consume their products.

Works Cited

Ali, Moondore, et al. "Young children's ability to recognize advertisements in web page designs." British Journal of Developmental Psychology 27.1 (2009): 71-83.