Last week: “Mommy, life is a fajita.”
Last night: “Actually, Mommy, life is not a fajita; it’s a pulled pork sandwich.”
My 8-year-old is not allowed to watch more than an hour of TV per day, but clearly that hasn’t stopped her from being sucked in by marketers hawking prepackaged spice mixtures. In fact, I’m starting to wonder if my child’s habit of integrating commercial content into her everyday life is triggered by the fact that she is limited to just 60 minutes of TV viewing a day. That hour is precious to her and she spends it fully connected to what’s being broadcast on the small screen, including commercials.
Perhaps more alarming is the fact that many companies are aggressively trying to make an impression on young consumers. Sadly, I don’t have to look very far to see that they’re succeeding. Only, my child is not the only victim.
According to a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the University of Kansas Medical Center, seeing logos from popular fast food chains triggers increased activity in kids’ brains.
“The brains of children are ‘imprinted’ with food logos,” according to Dr. Amanda Bruce, lead author of the study. “Without the necessary inhibitory processes to aid in decision-making, youths are particularly susceptible to making poor choices about what to eat.”
The study featured children ages 10 to 14 who were exposed to 60 food and 60 non-food logos while hooked up to MRI machines. Researchers found that upon seeing familiar fast food logos, the pleasure centers of kids’ brains went into overdrive. According to Dr. Bruce, seeing McDonald’s logo especially triggered an increased activity in areas of children’s brains known to be “involved in reward processing and in driving and controlling appetite.”
The Los Angeles Times recently referred to the study in an article that linked the marketing of junk food to the nationwide obesity epidemic. The paper’s take: “Kids often crave bad-for-you food because they’ve been wired by ads and commercials to associate the related brands with pleasure.”
Translation: Brainwashing works.
So, the next time your child has a Big Mac attack, you know the reason.
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