• The Washington Post, Thursday, March 29, 2007 10:45 AM

Food is the most heavily TV product to kids and teens, according to a new study -- the largest ever connected of TV food marketing - by the Kaiser Family Foundation. "Food is the No. 1 product advertised to kids, followed by media such as music, video games and movies," says Vicky Rideout, vice president of the foundation's Program for the Study of Entertainment Media and Health and director of the study. And they aren't being told to eat their vegetables, either.

More than one-third of ads aimed at kids and adolescents are for candy and snacks, those high-fat, sugary foods that are blamed for widespread childhood obesity. Children 8 to 12 see the most food commercials, averaging 21 a day or 7,600 per year -- nearly 51 hours. Teens aged 13 to 17 see 17 a day, or more than 6,000 per year and tots 2 to 7 view 12 per day, or 4,400 a year.

The researchers analyzed about 1,600 hours of programming from late May to mid-July of 2005, with some additional sampling in September of the same year. That is 30 times more than has ever been included in previous reports.

Read the whole story at The Washington Post »