Research, though sometimes confusing and construed to fit the whims of the day, can be very helpful in piecing together the puzzle that is childhood obesity today.

One such piece of research released this month in the American Journal of Public Health (February 2010, Vol 100, No. 2 | American Journal of Public Health 334-340 © 2010) has shed light on the link between childhood obesity and the exposure to TV food commercials.

In this particular study, it was the exposure to and influence of TV commercial content, not the “couch potato” (sedentary activity) effect of watching TV, that was a significant influence on the increase in BMI over time.  How can TV food commercials impact childhood obesity in such a profound way?

Researchers believe that the TV advertising had the significant effect of influencing food preferences – especially among the younger (0-6 year old) children in the study.  It was concluded that the more TV commercials (for sweetened cereals, junk food and fast food chains) viewed, the more likely the child will want to try the food.  And we all know what happens once a child tries a colorful, sweet or highly palatable salty-crunchy food …

“… much of the food we’re eating–this trifecta of fat, sugar, and salt–stimulates us.  And we now see from the science–this highly palatable food is excessively activating the neural circuitry of our brains.  We now know… the reason we keep on eating is because of this sustained stimulation.” Dr. David Kessler, pediatrician, former FDA commissioner, former dean of the Yale & UCSF medical schools, author of The End of Overeating: Why a chocolate chip cookie has such power over us- Fat, Sugar, Salt and the Brain

… they always want more.