A study published in this month’s issue of the Journal of Law and Economics found that viewing more fast food television commercials raises the risk of obesity in children.
The economists in the study estimated that if the US was to ban fast food adverts from televiosion programs, the number of overweight children in the country would reduce by 18 percent and decrease the number of overwieght teenagers by 14 percent.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 13.9 percent of children aged 2 to 5 are overweight, 18.8 percent of those aged 6 to 11 are and more than 17 percent of those 12 to 19.
To date only Sweden, Norway and Finland have banned commercial sponsorship of children’s television programs.
