Fast-food advertisers are encouraging us to eat more now than we did 30 years ago. And judging by the rise in obesity in the West, they are doing a fantastic job. 鈥淭hey are saying it鈥檚 normal to eat more,鈥 says John Windhauser of Louisiana State University. He and Marlene Most studied fast-food ads from the past 25 years shown in the US on Saturday morning TV, the prime spot for targeting children. The only interruptions to the syrupy smiles of the adverts鈥 B-list actors, she says, were shots of them troughing ever larger quantities of food, as portions have doubled or tripled. Most presented the results to the American Heart Association meeting in Honolulu.
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