JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Kids are watching an increasing number of food and beverage ads during children’s television programming and most of them are unhealthy, according to a new study.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest said 23 percent of ads during kids’ TV shows are for food and beverages, up from 14 percent in 2012.
CSPI said two-thirds of those ads are for unhealthy products.
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"It's just better for them to have less sugar in their diets, so I think it's important not to have all those advertisements,” parent Kelly Haggerty said.
The report said Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Discovery Family were all given F grades, meaning they had the most unhealthy food ads per hour.
"Marketing really matters," said Sara Ribakove, Policy Associate for CSPI.
Ribakove said Nickelodeon had upwards of 10 ads for unhealthy products per hour.
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"Our concerns are that if children continue to see a lot of unhealthy food and beverage advertisements, that's what they're going to want and in turn that can create long-term habits,” Ribakove said.
PBS and Univision were given A grades for running healthy advertisements.
We contacted the networks given F grades for comment but haven’t heard back.
Cox Media Group
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