Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-4369, USA.
Health Commun. 2009 Oct;24(7):660-73. doi: 10.1080/10410230903242267.
The concern over increasing rates of obesity and associated health issues has led to calls for solutions to the potentially unhealthy influence of television and food advertising on children's diets. Research demonstrates that children's food preferences are acquired through learning processes, and that these preferences have long-lasting effects on diet. We examined food preferences and eating behaviors among college students, and assessed the relative influence of 2 potential contributors: parental communication and television experience. In line with previous studies with children, prior television experience continued to predict unhealthy food preferences and diet in early adulthood, and perceived taste had the most direct relationship to both healthy and unhealthy diets. In addition, both television experience and parenting factors independently influenced preferences and diet. These findings provide insights into the potential effectiveness of alternative media interventions to counteract the unhealthy influence of television on diet, including a) nutrition education; b) parental communication and media literacy education to teach children to defend against unwanted influence; and c) reduced exposure to unhealthy messages.
对肥胖率不断上升和相关健康问题的担忧，促使人们呼吁解决电视和食品广告对儿童饮食可能产生的不健康影响。研究表明，儿童的食物偏好是通过学习过程获得的，而这些偏好对饮食有持久的影响。我们调查了大学生的食物偏好和饮食习惯，并评估了两个潜在因素的相对影响：父母沟通和电视体验。与之前针对儿童的研究一致，先前的电视体验仍然预测儿童在成年早期的不健康食物偏好和饮食，而感知的味道与健康和不健康饮食都有最直接的关系。此外，电视体验和养育因素都独立地影响了偏好和饮食。这些发现为替代媒体干预措施的有效性提供了一些见解，以抵消电视对饮食的不健康影响，包括：a）营养教育；b）父母沟通和媒体素养教育，以教导孩子抵御不受欢迎的影响；c）减少接触不健康的信息。
