Study: Advertisers target blacks with unhealthy food messages

Researchers have identified a new culprit — food marketers — to help explain why overweight and obesity rates are higher among blacks (68.9 percent) than among whites (59.5 percent), according to statistics reported by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

In a review of 22 studies published in the September issue of the American Journal of Public Health, researchers found that advertisers specifically target blacks with unhealthy food messages. In television and print, high-fat, high-calorie foods are more heavily promoted to blacks. Television shows that are popular among black audiences run a greater number of food commercials than do general-audience shows. And food ads in black-oriented magazines are dominated by low-cost, energy-dense, low-nutrition foods — think doughnuts, potato chips and Twinkies.

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“The results suggest that the marketing environments of African-American consumers are less likely to support the development and maintenance of healthful eating,” the study concludes.