Fast food companies succeed in mind-controlling an entire generation of children
(NaturalNews) Can fast food act as a sort of mind-control factor on
children? The answer is yes, according to a new study, and in fact,
researchers say, the fast food companies have succeeded in essentially
brainwashing an entire generation.
According to research teams at the
University of Missouri-Kansas City and the
University of Kansas Medical Center suggests that a child's brain could be
imprinted with fast-food restaurants' logos and brands.
The
study utilized MRI technology to monitor the brain activity of children
between the ages of 10 and 14. Kids were shown a series of 120 widely
popular, very recognizable logos - some of which were fast food related
and some which were not.
The study, called the "Neuroeconomics of
Controversial Food Technologies," found that so-called reward
processing centers and regions of the brain devoted to driving and/or
controlling appetite jumped with activity when the kids saw the fast
food logos, but not when they saw logos of other brands.
But isn't that the goal of marketing - especially marketing of food? What's the big deal?
Fast food chains the worst"Research
has shown children are more likely to choose those foods with familiar
logos," Dr. Amanda Bruce, who led the study, told
The Independent newspaper. "That is concerning because the majority of foods marketed
to children are unhealthy, calorifically-dense foods high in sugars, fat
and sodium."
"The theory is the increase in risk-taking behavior
in adolescence is attributed to uneven development in brain regions
associated with cognitive control and emotional drive," she said.
The study, which comes following comments by British politician Chris Brewis, who likened fast
food to child abuse, is noteworthy for a number of reasons, not the least of
which is this: America is in the throes of an obesity epidemic, led in
large part by bad dietary decisions.
Fast food restaurants represent the worst of those.
"The brains of
children are 'imprinted' with food logos. Without the necessary inhibitory
processes to aid in decision-making, youth are particularly susceptible
to making poor choices about what to eat," Bruce told the paper.
This isn't new - Fast food chains have been competing for the minds of our children for some time nowMarketing of
fast food to children has been an issue of concern to government and advocacy groups for years.
The
FTC found that in 2006, food companies were spending some $1.6 billion a
year to market products specifically to kids, mostly teenagers. Makers
of carbonated drinks spent the most; they were followed by fast food
chains and breakfast cereal producers. Television was the dominant
marketing vehicle.
The report also detailed the progress of a coalition of 14 major food
companies - including Kellogg's and Coca-Cola - was formed in 2006 to resist government regulation of their marketing.
Some things never changeThe
coalition pledged, in essence, to reduce their efforts to target kids
specifically, an approach that appeared to be hailed by the FTC.
"The
committee's primary recommendation is all food and beverage companies
adopt and adhere to" nutritional standards for products marketed to
children, Lydia Parnes, director of the agency's Bureau of Consumer
Protection, said during a news conference. She went on to add that
joining the coalition would be a good "first start" for other companies.
Critics
of that self-regulatory approach questioned what the coalition
considered "better" food, as well as a lack of industry-wide definitions
on what advertising to children entailed.
"In the
Better Business Bureau program,
the companies themselves determine what is better food, the companies
themselves determine what is children's advertising. The companies
determine all these things; there's not even a real uniformity in what
these decisions are," Robert Kesten, the executive director of the
Center for Screen-Time Awareness, a Washington-based group that seeks to limit media influence, told
The New York Times.
The joint study indicates that food companies are continuing to aim much of their marketing efforts at kids.
Source:-
http://www.naturalnews.com/037418_fast_food_companies_mind_control_children.html