How food advertisement affects children’s brains

From The APS Observer:

“Recent research suggests that these food marketing tactics may actually be changing the way children perceive and process food-related stimuli, which might be contributing to rising levels of obesity.
A 2013 study published in The Journal of Pediatrics tied the effects of food marketing to children’s obesity rates. Psychological scientist Amanda S. Bruce (University of Kansas Medical Center; Children’s Mercy Hospital) and colleagues examined 10 children of healthy weight and 10 obese children, ages 10–14, to see what impact viewing food logos would have on their brains. Using both self-reports of self-control and fMRI scans, the researchers found that, when shown food logos, the obese children had less activation in the self-control areas of their brains and reported greater levels of impulsivity than did their healthy-weight counterparts.”