Negative Effects of Advertisements in Children's Lives

This essay delves into the adverse effects of advertisements on children, exploring both health and psychological consequences. It begins by highlighting how children are targeted as a primary market and the vulnerabilities associated with this approach. The essay then analyzes the relationship between food advertising and rising obesity rates in children, citing statistics on marketing expenditures and the impact of unhealthy food promotions. Furthermore, it examines the psychological effects of advertising, discussing how children's lack of life experience and critical thinking skills make them susceptible to persuasive marketing claims. The essay also proposes solutions, including parental guidance and governmental regulations, such as limiting advertisements aimed at children and age restrictions on certain content. It concludes by emphasizing the need for collaborative efforts from parents and government to mitigate the negative impacts of advertising on young lives.

Running head: NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF ADVERTISEMENTS IN CHILDREN
Negative effects of advertisements in children
Name of Student:
Name of University;
Author note:

1Negative effects of advertisement in children
Executive summary
This paper speaks about the various negative health as well as psychological effects of
advertisement in the life of children. This paper will produce data as evidence of the claims and
arguments put forward in them. It highlights all the aspects of a child's life that have been
affected by advertisement. It will discuss three main points, first, how the children are seen as the
target market and the effects of the same. Further, the relationship between the health of the
children and the advertisement of food will be analysed, and lastly, the results of advertisement
in the psychology will be discussed.

2Negative effects of advertisement in children
Table of Contents
Executive summary.........................................................................................................................1
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................3
Effects of advertisements in children’s life:....................................................................................3
Children as the target market.......................................................................................................3
Health problems and advertisements...........................................................................................4
Solutions to the problem..................................................................................................................4
Parent’s council...........................................................................................................................4
Governmental steps.....................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
Reference:........................................................................................................................................5

3Negative effects of advertisement in children
Introduction:
Advertisement has become an inevitable part of our daily life now and has created a great
deal of negative impact on the life of teenagers. Ads have expanded their roots due to numerous
platforms available today because of internet and social media. As discussed by Moore, children
spend almost about 4 hours\day watching television which consists of 2500 advertisements in a
year (Moore,2004). This paper talks about the various adverse effects of advertisements in
children's lives and the extent to which it has affected their lives.
Effects of advertisements in children’s life:
Children as the target market
According to Moore, children are specifically targeted during the making of an
advertisement; estimate suggests that $ 15 billion has been spent in the United States for
advertisements which directly targeted the children (Moore, 2004). Exposing the children in the
world of advertisement is not right because they do not have the life experiences and abilities to
resist persuasive claims made by the commercials. Calvert in his article, Children as consumers:
Advertising and marketing, says that advertisements make children who are aged below eight
extremely vulnerable (Calvert, 2008). They end up stepping in the web of commercials believing
their claims and spend an enormous amount of money buying products which does not even
serve its purpose. After buying products that hardly serve their purpose, they feel betrayed and
cheated. Advertisement is done in such a manner that they appeal to the children and persuade
them to buy products. Children are vulnerable and do not understand the value of money since

4Negative effects of advertisement in children
most of them do not have to earn, so they can be easily persuaded to spend large amounts of
money to buy products.
Health problems and advertisements
Obesity in teenagers and even young children is one of the biggest challenges that has been
haunting the health of children for a very long time now. According to a study produced by
Harris, 35% of American teenagers are obese ( Harris et al., 2009). One of the major reasons for
teenage obesity is the increasing advertisements regarding food that contain sugar or fat in them.
Online food delivery has also considerably affected the health of children. Advertisements for
discounts on junk foods impress consumers and result in the massive consumption of foods.
According to Schwartz, more than $ 1.79 billion is spent in the year 2009, in food marketing
which directly targets the children (Schwartz, Kunkel and Delcutia, 2013). As discussed by
Harris, other health issues such as type 2 diabetes which is majorly caused by poor diet and
obesity are expected to rise by 36.5% in the U.S, 75.5% in China and 134% in India ( Harris et
al., 2009).
Solutions to the problem
Parent’s council
According to Moore, children lack the necessary life experience and skills to understand
and resist the persuasive claims of the advertisements so parents should counsel them and make
them understand the concept of advertisement (Moore, 2004). Children should not have access to
the credit or debit card with which they can purchase products online without anybody's
permission. There should be proper communication between the children and parents so that they
understand that it is all a scam. Proper counselling of parents is necessary for the children to

5Negative effects of advertisement in children
understand the whole concept of advertisement and why it is necessary to resist them. It is also
imperative for parents to limit or control the time their children spend on social media or
television because most of the commercials appear on televisions and social media.
Governmental steps
Parents counselling alone cannot solve this problem, and the involvement of government
is necessary to solve this problem effectively. The government should limit the number of
advertisements targeted directly to the children. Government should also add some age limit to
some advertisements on social media platforms. According to Harris, Canadian province of
Quebec, Sweden and Norway has banned the advertisement of any goods or products to children
who are below 13 years. This will limit the number of advertisements that a child is exposed to.
Conclusion
It is safe to conclude from the above discussion that marketing schemes like
advertisements or commercials have caused a lot of damage to the life of teenagers and children.
Some steps on the part of parents and government are required to solve this emerging problem
before it is too late. It is necessary that both the government and parents take their
responsibilities because many young lives are at risk.

6Negative effects of advertisement in children
Reference:
Calvert, S.L., 2008. Children as consumers: Advertising and marketing. The future of
children, 18(1), pp.205-234.
Harris, J.L., Pomeranz, J.L., Lobstein, T. and Brownell, K.D., 2009. A crisis in the marketplace:
how food marketing contributes to childhood obesity and what can be done. Annual review of
public health, 30, pp.211-225.
Moore, E.S., 2004. Children and the changing world of advertising. Journal of business
Ethics, 52(2), pp.161-167.
Schwartz, M.B., Kunkel, D. and DeLucia, S., 2013. Food marketing to youth: pervasive,
powerful, and pernicious. Communication Research Trends, 32(2), p.4.