Can you imagine that eliminating the federal tax deduction for fast food ads aimed at children would curb childhood obesity by 5 to 7 percent? Don’t imagine – a recent analysis appearing in November’s issue of the Journal of Law Economics has estimated this benefit because ads are a tax-deductible business expense. But so far, only three countries (Sweden, Norway, Finland) have banned commercial sponsorship and the study’s authors acknowledges the chance of a ban in the U.S. are slim. But still, pretty excellent that there’s been a ban there –the public health approach to diabetes is among the very most impressive in these western European countries.
However, the economists estimate that banning fast food advertisements would reduce the number of overweight children in the U.S. by 18 percent and decrease the number of overweight teens by 14 percent. SHHEESH! Check that out. That is impressive. Shin-Yi Chou, an economist at Lehigh College, and Inas Rashad, an economist at George State University, used statistical models to link obesity rates to time spent viewing the advertising. The results are unsurprising. Viewing more fast food commercials on TV raises the risk of obesity in children. But it’s wonderful to have this quantified after so many years of assumptions.
And, speaking of, there are many assumptions in the study, especially since the researchers’ estimate relies on older data from the late 1990s. Since then, Burger King and McDonald’s have signed on to the Council of Better Business Bureaus’ Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative. This group pledges to advertise only their ‘healthier’ products to children under age 12. We wonder what their “healthier products” are and if this initiative is anything more than something designed to make fast food companies feel better about what they are doing.
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