TV Commercials May Spur Junk Food Habit in Kids, Study Finds

The types of TV shows that families watch influences the amount of junk food that preschool children eat, a new study suggests. Researchers found that children in homes where parents watch regular TV with commercials had higher levels of junk food consumption and were more likely to have distorted views about healthy eating than children in homes where parents watched commercial-free digitally recorded TV or other types of media without food advertising. The link between TV viewing and junk food consumption was much stronger in "food-secure" homes than in those that were "food-insecure." A family is considered food-secure if they have ready access to food. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_137786.html