Wall-E has made a big splash among movie-goers this summer, but this futuristic robot love story is not just sweet and enjoyable. It’s also full of social commentary about an issue that’s very much in the public eye: the relationship between food advertising, television viewing, and overweight. The Times Union on Monday noted the link… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Research Blog
Tagged: Nutrition & Physical Activity
Do Crime Rates Influence Sedentary Behavior?
In the last 30 years, technological changes have made staying inside more appealing to kids than ever before. With TV, video games, computers and other media inside, kids aren’t always interested in playing outside, or encouraged to do so. One reason parents may actually want to keep their kids inside is because neighborhoods are less… Read more »
Take This Game and Run With It
Back in April we told you about an "active-adventure" video game in development by students at Carnegie Mellon. The Pittsburgh News interviewed the creators and got to see the game in action! Players run on a pad when they want their character to run on-screen; jump when they want the character to jump; and step… Read more »
“Active-Adventure” Video Game in Development
The following was written by Garth DeAngelis, a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center. To learn more about this project, see the team’s blog. In the past 20 years, the percentage of overweight adolescents in the United States has more than doubled — nearly 30% of American children today are considered obese or… Read more »
TV Dinners
63% of homes have the television on during meals. Research has shown a number of concerns about this practice such as: People eat more junk food and fewer fruits and vegetables while watching TV People eat more food while watching TV than while listening to music Dr. Michael Rich, Director of CMCH, was interviewed for… Read more »
For Teens, Media Trumps Health
In a new study in the Journal of School Nursing, researchers developed a questionnaire for middle school students to learn more about what measures they are willing to take to prevent obesity. They found that teens are willing to exercise more and change their eating habits, but they are unwilling to give up video games… Read more »
McDonald’s: They’re Lovin It
Robinson, Borzekowski, Matheson, and Kraemer performed a study to see whether children’s tastes were influenced by heavily marketed brands. Over 60 preschool children tasted 5 pairs of identical food items. In each pair, one item was packaged with the McDonald’s logo, and one item was in unbranded packaging. The children were asked whether the foods… Read more »
Shrek Hypocrisy Featured on The Colbert Report
Lovable cartoon movie-star Shrek is currently a spokesperson (spokes-ogre?) for the Department of Health and Human Services’ "Go Out and Play" campaign aimed at getting kids active to prevent obesity. Meanwhile, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood has conducted a review of other Shrek promotions and found that Shrek is also promoting over 70 different… Read more »
This Week in Research: Food, Sleep and Overweight
There are four new media-related studies: Bellissimo, N. et al. Effect of television viewing at mealtime on food intake after a glucose preload. Pediatric Research. Finding: "[Watching TV] while eating a meal contributes to increased energy intake by delaying normal mealtime satiation and reducing satiety signals from previously consumed foods." Li, S. et al. The… Read more »
Food for Thought: Is America Advertising Bad Health?
Today, the Kaiser Family Foundation released the largest study ever conducted of TV food advertising to children. Their findings include: Half of all ads shown during children’s shows are for food, the top product seen by children. 34% of all food ads targeting youth are for candy or snacks. Of the 8,854 ads reviewed in… Read more »
