Advertising to Children

Many of us do not even realize how many ads we see every single day. If you live in a city, according to this New York Times article, you can see up to 2,000 ads every day. However, more information is now coming out on the effect of advertising and children. Even more specifically, how these ads effect what children eat and how it is directly related to the growing population of children who are overweight in the United States.

Everyday in the United States, "children and teenagers see 12 to 14 food ads on television" according to this other New York Times article. This does not even include the many other places children have the opportunity to see advertisements like billboards, the internet, and even in school. The repetition of seeing these usually unhealthy food ads played in front of children is now making researchers look at how this related to the obesity crisis in the US. 

Now some campaigns that are trying to fight childhood obesity are firing back with ads that directly show the effects of being overweight as a child. While some of these ads have come under criticism for bullying children and being to harsh others believe its time to really show the effect of obesity on this country. What do you think? Do you think these ads are to harsh?