Kids are watching an increasing number of food and beverage advertisements during children’s television programming, and most of them are unhealthy, according to a new study.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) said 23% of ads during kids’ TV shows are for food and beverages, up from 14% in 2012.
CSPI said two-thirds of those ads are unhealthy.
"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.
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The report said networks like 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 unhealthy ads per hour.
"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.