TV ads with toy premiums lure kids to fast food

New York: Fast food companies advertise children's meals on TV with ads that feature toy premiums, and the use of these toy premiums may prompt children to request eating at fast food restaurants, a study suggests.

The researchers found that the more children watched television channels that aired ads for children's fast food meals; the more frequently their families visited those fast food restaurants.

Using a database they compiled of all fast food TV ads that aired nationally in 2009 in the US, Jennifer A. Emond and colleagues from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth enrolled 100 children (three-seven years of age) and one of their parents in the study.

The parents completed a survey that included questions about how often their children watched each of the four children's networks, if their children requested visits to the two restaurants, if their children collected toys from those restaurants, and how often the family visited those restaurants.