Junk food ads hit teens
TEENS who see one extra junk food advert a week eat an extra 18,000 calories a year, a study has shown.
Researchers asked 3,300 young people about their food consumption and TV viewing.
They found obese 11 to 19-year-olds ate an extra 350 calories a week on average after watching five hours more telly than the average of 21 hours. And the extra viewing would have contained one more ad for brands selling fast foods such as burgers a week. Study leader Dr Jyotsna Vohra, of Cancer Research UK, said: “We know obesity is linked to cancer.” The Obesity Health Alliance called for a 9pm watershed on junk food TV adverts.