Kids into junk food get obese early

Washington: A new study has revealed that more a child is familiar with logos and other images from fast-food restaurants, sodas and not-so-healthy snack food brands, the more likely the child is to be overweight or obese.

Researchers from Michigan State University tested kids on their knowledge of various brands, including their ability to identify items such as golden arches, silly rabbits and a king's crown and found that those who could identify them the most tended to have higher body mass indexes, or BMIs.

Anna McAlister said that they found that the relationship between brand knowledge and BMI to be quite robust and the kids who know most about these brands have higher BMIs.

The results suggest that physical activity is not the only answer and limiting advertising exposure might be a step in the right direction too.

The study was published in the journal Appetite.