Kid friendly TV ads for sugary cereals blamed for child obesity crisis
Children who watch adverts on average eat 30 per cent more than those who don't
ADVERTS for children's cereals are being blasted for helping fuel the child obesity crisis.
New research has revealed children who watch 20 TV sugary breakfast cereal adverts a week eat 30 per cent more of them than children who do not watch any.
Professor Graham MacGregor, chairman of the pressure group Action on Sugar, said: "There's no doubt that sugary cereals are one of the reasons so many children are becoming obese, with some now developing type two diabetes in adolescence."
Some cereals are more than a third sugar – meaning a 30g bowl can contain about three teaspoons' worth.
Among the worst offenders are Kellogg's Frosties (37 per cent sugar) and Coco Pops (35 per cent).
The research was carried out by the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth University in the US, who found more than 40 per cent of children were exposed to television adverts for high sugar breakfast cereals on a regular basis.
Writing in the journal Appetite, the research concluded: "These findings support recommendations to limit the marketing of high-sugar foods to young children. Ample evidence suggests cereals most heavily advertised to children are the least nutritious and contain the greatest amounts of added sugars."
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