Food companies engineer junk food to make it addictive (上瘾的). They label (贴标签) their products to make them seem much healthier than they are. And their advertisements aim at children All of this is according to a news report read recently by students in a Texas middle school. They were taking part in an experiment which was run by the University of Chicago and the University of Texas.
Researches had students learn about food-industry methods. They wanted to know if learning about them would change how kids feel about junk food. All over the world, kids are eating more foods that are high in salt, sugar and fat. This is partly the result of clever ads that make junk food hard to refuse.
Christopher led the study. He says that when kids question the motives (动机) behind junk-food ads, they feel like they're fighting an unfair act. "The reward is knowing you're doing, the right thing," Christopher said.
Junk food has been linked to health problems such as heart disease. But in 2017, food companies spent nearly $9 billion on TV ads selling unhealthy food. Companies use different kinds of methods. An ad with cartoon characters may make cookies seem fun to eat. A sports star enjoying a sugary drink may make it look cool. Advertisers know that if kids want a product, they'll ask their parents to, buy it. Even parents don't notice the power of ads. By the time they're an adult, they have been used to junk-food advertising. They just don't realizeit."
In the Texas study, Christopher had students view (评论) ads on an iPad. ① , to make each ad's message true. For example, a McDonald's ad showed a Big Mac and the words "The thing you want when you order salad." To the end of the sentence, a student added "should be salad".
The results of Christopher's Texas study were published in April. ② . They showed that three months after studying ads, students were still choosing healthier snacks：milk instead of sugary juices, fruit over cookies. ③ "Kids are making a difference," Christopher says. "They. see a chance to make the world a better place. ④ "
