Scientists from the University of Liverpool have released a new study claiming that children are more likely to eat junk food if it is endorsed by a celebrity. According to the study, celebrities were being used in television advertisements to persuade children to eat trashy food.
The study conducted the research on 181 children aged between 8 and 11. Each child was asked to watch a 20 minute cartoon, during which one of three advertisements was played or footage of Gary Lineker presenting Match of the Day. The three advertisements were for Walkers Crisps, another food advert and a toy commercial.
The children were then offered two bowls of crisps, one labelled Walkers while the other bowl was supermarket crisps. The researchers subsequently measured the consumption of the bowls.
The researchers discovered that the children who had watched the Lineker advert or the footage ate more than the children who watched other adverts.
Lead scientist for the research Dr. Emma Boyland stated: “The study demonstrated, for the first time, that the influence of the celebrity extended even further than expected and prompted the children to eat the endorsed product even when they saw the celebrity outside of any actual promotion for the brand.”
Lineker is just one celebrity in a list of others who endorse junk food, like Girls Aloud for Kit Kat Senses or David Beckham for Pepsi. In 2006, the UK placed strict laws advertising campaigns with celebrities promoting junk food during television programmes aimed at children under 10 years of age.
