Introduction
The advertisement of junk foods occurs through various media, including mainstream media such as television and radio, and social media such as Facebook and Twitter. The promotion of these products has been especially rampant in the last few decades and is reliable as a mechanism of increasing quantities of food sold by companies. The growth of such firms during the aforementioned period is a testament to the effectiveness of the mechanisms employed. The advertising has increased their sale and negatively affected people by increasing childhood obesity, incidences of diabetes and heart diseases, and gastrointestinal diseases. The advertisement and consequent increase in sales have caused teenage depression, dental health challenges, and long-term damage. The promoting of unhealthy foods must be banned to protect children, teenagers, and adults from both short-term and long-term consequences of consumption.
Support Ban Arguments 1
Childhood obesity, teenage depression, diabetes, and heart diseases are challenges due to junk promotion. Childhood obesity was not a global concern until a few decades ago, when the advertisement of junk foods was advanced. Studies indicate that there is a direct correlation between the consumption of junk foods and the occurrence of obesity among children (Ertz & Le Bouhart, 2021). This is because junk foods are mostly comprised of fats and sugars which when metabolized are stored under the skin and other organs, hence obesity. Banning the advertisement of junk foods will ensure that there is minimal information available to children about junk foods and therefore minimal consumption. Junk foods are additionally attributed to teenage depression, with research indicating that children who grow up consuming junk foods up to their teenage hood are predisposed to psychological stress. Malmir et al., (2022) investigated this phenomenon and the results revealed that the high caloric value but the minimal nutritional value of those foods was damaging. There is a need to ban the advertisement of junk foods to protect the mental health of teenagers.
Diabetes and heart diseases were not common phenomena before the massive advertisement and sale of junk foods. Mainstream media availed people with the knowledge and means to consume these foods, hence increasing cholesterol deposition in the coronary vessels. This has damaged the heart’s ability to meet the body’s circulatory needs and the ability of the pancreas to secrete insulin, alongside decreased sensitivity to insulin (Jagannathan et al., 2019). Banning advertisements is vital in reducing sales and consumption, and ensuring the health of the public.
Support Ban Arguments 2
Gastrointestinal diseases, dental health challenges, and long-term damage are effects of junk advertisement. Gastrointestinal diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, abdominal migraine, and chronic idiopathic constipation are caused by the advertisement, sale, and consumption of junk foods. High sodium, fat, and sugar concentrations are found in junk foods, causing a nutritional imbalance (Mirza et al., 2018). Lack of fruits and vegetables and sources of dietary fiber hence imbalance in natural flora required for proper digestion is the cause of these diseases. Banning the advertisement of junk foods is vital in reducing these diseases and safeguarding public health.
Dental health is additionally affected by the advertisement and consumption of these junk foods. The sugars and fats which comprise junk foods cause the deposition of plaque on teeth, causing decay and cavities (Athavale et al., 2020). Banning the advertisement of these foods is essential in enhancing the well-being of children, teenagers, and adults to protect dental hygiene and health. Long-term damage is an additional factor for effecting a ban on the advertisement of junk foods. Long-term damage to the heart, pancreas, liver, and gastrointestinal tract is a major cause of mortality globally (Butler & Barrientos, 2020). These are directly attributed to the consumption of junk foods, hence the need to minimize their sale through a ban on their advertisement.
Opposition Views
Poor eating choices, incorrect parenting, and economic challenges are some of the arguments presented to continue the marketing of junk foods. Parties opposing the ban on the advertisement of junk food argue that the consumption of these foods is a matter of personal choice. They argue that although these foods do cause these challenges, these problems only arise in situations when people do not regulate their choices (Thompson et al., 2021). The occurrence of health challenges attributed to junk foods is due to consumption of high quantities.
The proponents of this argument propose that banning the advertisement of these foods will only affect business and not consumption. Parties in support of increased and sustained advertisement of junk foods argue that the conditions that occur amongst children are a result of poor parenting, and not necessarily the sale of junk foods. Parents are required to monitor the foods that their children consume, and ensure they fall among the healthcare requirements for proper growth to avert obesity and teenage depression (Thompson et al., 2021). The advertisement of junk foods through various media including television, social media, and newspapers is a major income earner for those involved. Banning this will result in massive losses in revenue for these companies. The junk-producing companies are additionally likely to suffer decreased sales and therefore poor revenues (Kee et al., 2021). This is financially detrimental as it causes a decrease in the workforce due to the firing of workers. This is likely to worsen the unemployment crisis and increase poverty, hence poor living standards for those affected.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the banning of the advertisement of junk foods must be effected to protect the American citizens. On one side of the spectrum, a ban is likely to minimize childhood obesity and teenage depression alongside heart diseases. Gastrointestinal diseases, dental diseases, and debilitating long-term health challenges are benefits the country is likely to recoup from a ban. Parties against the ban argue that the decision cannot solve the challenge because it arises from poor willpower in terms of personal decision and parenting, while additionally predisposing many families to unemployment. A ban on the advertisement is ultimately a beneficial one when the benefits are weighed against the negative repercussions.
References
Athavale, P., Khadka, N., Roy, S., Mukherjee, P., Chandra Mohan, D., Turton, B. (Bethy), & Sokal-Gutierrez, K. (2020). Early childhood junk food consumption, severe dental caries, and undernutrition: A mixed-methods study from Mumbai, India. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(22), 8629. Web.
Butler, M. J., & Barrientos, R. M. (2020). The impact of nutrition on COVID-19 susceptibility and long-term consequences. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 87, 53–54. Web.
Ertz, M., & Le Bouhart, G. (2021). The other pandemic: A conceptual framework and future research directions of junk food marketing to children and childhood obesity. Journal of Macromarketing, 42(1), 30–50. Web.
Jagannathan, R., Patel, S. A., Ali, M. K., & Narayan, K. M. V. (2019). Global updates on cardiovascular disease mortality trends and attribution of traditional risk factors. Current Diabetes Reports, 19(7). Web.
Kee, D. M. H., Nazri, N. F. binti M., Misbah, N. binti, Nazril, N. A. binti, Musa, N. H. binti, & Hamid, N. F. binti A. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 on the fast-food industry in Malaysia. Journal of the Community Development in Asia(JCDA), 4(2), 44–57. Web.
Malmir, H., Mahdavi, F. S., Ejtahed, H.-S., Kazemian, E., Chaharrahi, A., Mohammadian Khonsari, N., Mahdavi-Gorabi, A., & Qorbani, M. (2022). Junk food consumption and psychological distress in children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Nutritional Neuroscience, 11, 1–21. Web.
Mirza, N., Ashraf, S. M. J., Ikram, Z., Sheikh, S. I., & Akmal, M. (2018). Junk Food Consumption, awareness and its Health Consequences among Undergraduates of a Medical University. Journal of the Dow University of Health Sciences (JDUHS), 12(2), 42–47. Web.
Thompson, C., Clary, C., Er, V., Adams, J., Boyland, E., Burgoine, T., Cornelsen, L., de Vocht, F., Egan, M., Lake, A., Lock., K, Mytton, O., Petticrew, M., White, M., Yau, A., & Cummins, S. (2021). Media representations of opposition to the ‘junk food advertising ban’ on the transport for London (TfL) network: A thematic content analysis of UK news and trade press. SSM-Population Health, 15, 100828. Web.