Obesity has become a worldwide public health problem. Considerable research has shown that the media contribute to the development of child and adolescent obesity, although the exact mechanism remains unclear. Screen time may displace more active pursuits, advertising of junk food and fast food increases children's requests for those particular foods and products, snacking increases while watch...

BACKGROUND Using appropriate terminology in nutrition education programs and behaviour change campaigns is important to optimise the effectiveness of these efforts. To inform future communications on the topic of healthy eating, this study explored adults' perceptions of the meaning of four terms used to describe unhealthy foods: junk food, snack food, party food, and discretionary food. METH...

whereas public information campaigns have failed to reverse the rising trend in obesity, economists support food taxes as they suggest they can force individuals to change their eating behavior and make the agro-food industry think more about healthy food products. excise taxes based on the unhealthy nutrient content would be more effective since they impact more on unhealthy food products than...

We develop a structural model to analyze the effect of banning advertising on market equilibria and welfare in junk food markets. We consider the impact on demand and prices, and we show how to quantify welfare effects when advertising might lead consumers to take decisions that are inconsistent with their underlying preferences. We use transaction level data on the potato chips market and find...