About Obesity and Entertainment

The number of Americans that are overweight is startling. As consumers, we must re-evaluate eating and exercise habits as well as how–and how much–we entertain ourselves. One of the major causes of obesity is based on personal experiences and circumstances, but more specifically–stress. Another has to do with genetics. Americans have been forced to cope with strenuous circumstances way before the advent of television and other media related technologies except there were never this many cases of obesity then. By looking at the industry of entertainment and its mediums one can see how our society has enlarged to unhealthy proportions.

Since 1976, adult obesity has doubled, and that of young adults tripled. Food is comforting in certain situations; taking exams, losing a family member, being over worked. The White House Task Force’s report on childhood obesity offers exercise and a healthy diet as solutions to the issue, but it neglects other causes that leave people susceptible. People are responsible for what they eat, but the influence of the media on eating habits should not be overlooked. One must understand the goals and strategies of companies, advertisers, and marketers to be fully aware of the dangers one encounters as a consumer.

Firms and companies use psychological methods to lure consumers, and particularly consumers-to-be, using scarce ethics. The book, The Impact of Television Advertising on Children, mentions some of the elements of advertising used: emotional manipulation, role models (stunning models with influential attire), color, music, and repetition (kids eventually know the commercials by heart). Well, how are consumers suppose to defend themselves in a capitalistic society? Sectors of government, such as the Federal Trade Commission, are meant to protect consumers. However, the FTC has gone through changes since the 1980′s that have left consumers vulnerable–particularly children–and it is still changing. George Comstock’s and Erica Scharrer’s book, Media and the American Child, summarizes how corporate opponents of the FTC influenced elected officials in Congress to derail the agency’s attempt to ban or limit advertising to children.

Congress…enacting legislation ironically titled the FTC Improvements Act of 1980… prohibited any further action to adopt the proposed children’s advertising rules.

How exactly do the effects of predatory advertising and curtailed government regulation lead individuals to view food as comforting rather than a means of nourishment? Overexposure to media takes an emotional–and in-effect physical–toll on adults and kids. People become disappointed when they do not fulfill expectations of themselves. Advertisements target consumers through their self-esteem. If an overweight girl and boy are watching a hamburger ad with a supermodel, it would target the boy with the super-model’s sensationalized sex-appeal. Insinuating that he could get the model. The girl, on the other hand, might associate the product (burger in this case) with being able to become the model and attain that social standing. The editors of Advertising to Children explain how girls with better body images are not particularly susceptible to the use of physically attractive models in ads, but girls with poorer body images find the ads more appealing and effective in creating desires for products.

Ads with physically attractive female models are most effective (persuasive) in situations where they may contribute to harming a person’s self-worth (girls with poor body images).

Food advertising offers a solution to the problem of self-image which is created by the very same advertisement. Children are the most vulnerable, but so are their parents.

Families in low-income neighborhoods are among the most obese. Steven J. Kirsh’s Media and Youth talks about how low income families become prey as parents and single parents are too busy working to deny convenience. This ends up affecting both the parents and children.The more that parents see advertisements for McDonald’s, Burger King, and others like these, the more often their children eat fast food.

An assessment of parents of underprivileged youth…found that greater exposure to fast-food commercials was increasingly associated with the belief that eating fast food was a normative behavior.

Fatty, processed, high-fructose-corn-syrup foods are too convenient. They outnumber, and cost less, than wholesome food at the market. Local farming and produce are crucial to the health of our communities. If fruits and vegetables were to outnumber the opulent number of unhealthy food at markets, it would be cheap and convenient to keep people healthy. Most markets have too much of the wrong food.

Healthier food choices and alternatives to ad-plagued pastimes can help individuals and families live healthier and more independently. The produce sections in markets offer the leanest edibles. A walk or hike instead of a DVD marathon is a healthier alternative, and so is a bicycle ride as opposed to hours of video games. The old ways of entertainment are not obsolete. They have been marginalized by marketing and technological industries.Each younger generation is being considered more as a vehicle for capitol rather than human. The choices individuals make on how to eat and entertain themselves are what will make them healthier.

Posted by Bosque Urbano on Sep 1 2010. Filed under Mind & Body. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry