What if We Ate a Diet Based Entirely on TV Ads?

It probably comes as no surprise that the foods advertised on television fall mostly on the unhealthy end of the spectrum. A new study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association reveals just how bad for you a diet based on TV ads can be.

The study takes an interesting perspective, positing that the food ads we see on TV "constitute a de facto set of dietary endorsements," collectively forming a campaign that affects our eating habits. Researchers at Armstrong Atlantic State University looked at 84 hours of prime time and 12 hours of Saturday morning television and documented the food ads they saw. They then compared the nutritional profiles of foods they saw advertised to recommended daily nutritional values, answering the question, "What if we ate completely according to the advertisements we saw?"

The answer to that question is truly shocking. If folks ate a diet based on TV ads, they'd consume 2,560 percent of their recommended daily servings for sugars, 2,080 percent of the recommended daily servings for fat, 40 percent of the recommended daily servings for vegetables, 32 percent of the recommended daily servings for dairy, and 27 percent of the recommended daily servings for fruits. Even for someone expecting bad results, the actual numbers raise some serious eyebrows.

But just how much do TV ads affect our dietary choices? According to the study's leader, Michael Mink, "People will consume more of a food after seeing it advertised, [and] we know that Americans watch a lot of TV—around seven hours per day on average." And it's true that American's are eating a diet remarkably aligned with what's being advertised: Nationally, diets are far too high in sugar, protein, total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol, and too low in complex carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

The obvious counter-argument, though, is that foods advertised on TV are popular because they are the tastiest and will bring in consumers. So do the ads attract eaters, or does the delicious, high-fat flavor get them hooked? It's a situation that's tough to assess, but likely there is truth in both statements. Of course we're attracted to fat and sugar, but research has established TV advertising's power over consumers, particularly children.

The good news, Mink suggests, is that the power of advertising can also be used for good. If, through either a cultural shift or regulation, advertisers were to start promoting healthier food, it would likely create a positive effect on how we eat. Research has demonstrated that while public education campaigns often fail to affect our eating habits, TV ads hawking low-fat foods do. Mink admits that such a wide-scale marketing shift is unlikely at this point, so maybe we would do better to take famed farmer and food activist Joel Salatin's advise: Just shoot your TV.

Photo credit: dno1967 via Flickr