Dr Jveria Kiran
Adolescence is that stage of life when a child develops into an adult. It is that period of life when a person experience specific health and developmental needs and rights. It is the time to develop attributes and abilities that will be important for enjoying adolescent age. During the adolescent years important neuronal developments and power of decision making about food choices are also taking place. The world health organization defines adolescents as those people who are between age of 10 and 19 years 1
Adolescents learn a lot from their social world and by observing media, when watching TV they learn that foods which are calorie dense and high in fat and sugar are extremely rewarding to eat. 98% of food products advertised on television are of low nutritional value. on average, children in U.S view 15 television food advertisements per day and 5,500 messages per year that highly promote un healthy food products.
children are being exposed to an average of three unhealthy food advertisements every hour that they watch TV during peak periods. This figure remains unchanged since Cancer Council NSW and University of Sydney conducted the same analysis in 2011.
Electronic media is the broadcast media that take advantage of electronic technology. It includes any type of electronic device that provide us information and attracts public attention towards a business or product. Types of electronic media are cell phones, television, radio, computer and some other devices transporting information through electronic involvement. The mix of communications like videos, graphics, sound, animation in the coupling of internet and television holds the key to a large part of our future
Radio is oldest type of electronic media. Most radio stations transmit news, sports, talk and religious programs while some broadcast music.On internet, advertising has become so popular because it can advertise to target audience. All the data can be collected easily about how many people clicked on ad and this is how company can figure out how successful the advertising has been
Watching TV inhibits the feeling of fulfillment because the brain of an individual is just focusing on what he is watching. According to the author Leann Birch , the problem is not exactly that the person is watching TV but the problem is, he doesn’t pay attention to amount, portion size and taste etc, Which ultimately leads towards health issues like obesity.
An eating pattern represents the entire food and beverages consumed by an individual. As part of a healthy eating pattern all the foods consumed fit together like a puzzle game to fulfill the nutritional needs without going beyond the limits such as those for added sugar, saturated fats ,sodium and total calories. All forms of foods like fresh, dried, canned and frozen can be included in healthy eating patterns.
Nutrition status and dietary intake are assessed by recording the exact amount and types of foods consumed by the person and the lifestyle and health factors that affect eating patterns.dietary intake is a complex measure that needs specific care in its assessment.24 hour dietary intke questionnaire and food frequency questionnaire can be used to mesure the dietry intake.24 hour dietry intake can provide excellent results and its easy to understand.
TV viewing predicted decreased intake of fruits and vegetables and increased intake of high energy low nutrient foods (HELN).unhealthy food advertising on television and Facebook, twitter through internet has possible role in development of adolescents obesity and this is very important research focus for those who are trying to know the underlying epidemics causes of adolescents obesity, coronary heart diseases, kidney problems and certain types of cancers.
There is ample evidence about programming and heavy TV viewing in developing food preferences of children and adolescents.
Thin body ideal images on media cause dissatisfaction with their bodies and lead towards eating disorders and even death. Cocaine and marijuana drugs have portrayed specially traffic movie depicted heroin use.
Electronic media advertising shifts food choices of adolescents towards those items which are advertised and are shown to be attractive and away from items which are not advertised. Length of time children spend using electronic media devices appears to be inversely associated with parents concern and knowledge about nutrition .family life style which is based on heavy use of electronic media also has great influence on development of children`s eating patterns and habits.
