Children’s junk food ads diet

CHILDREN watch up to 1,000 junk food TV adverts a year, according to research.

They are also exposed to twice as many commercials plugging unhealthy products than for healthy ones during peak viewing times.

The first study of its kind was based on a monitoring system that captured the number of adverts shown on one network over an entire year.

Study lead author Professor Lisa Smithers, of Adelaide University, said it would be the equivalent of five hours of continuous viewing. The findings follow an analysis by Liverpool University last year that revealed British children see as many as 12 junk food adverts an hour during family shows such as The Voice.