Restaurant Advertising and Population Health

Frederick J Zimmerman

doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.19889

Abstract

Restaurant Advertising and Population Health

Highlights

What are we to make of these results? In particular, how strongly can their observational analysis persuade scientists that the ubiquitous food advertising to which we are all commonly exposed is, not alright? There are already good theoretical reasons to believe that advertising is strongly associated with behavior,[3] and a body of empirical evidence has shown an association of advertising with food choice in short-term experiments[4] and in economic market analyses.[5]
The market-level data on exposure to restaurant advertising is a major—and largely unique—strength of this important article. It places the focus of population health squarely on a health determinant that is shared by everyone in the community
None of the variation begins very close to zero, where the largest marginal impact would be expected. All of this is to say that the study measures the marginal association of advertising with body mass index (BMI), not what would be the much larger mean association of advertising with BMI

Summary

Introduction

What are we to make of these results? In particular, how strongly can their observational analysis persuade scientists that the ubiquitous food advertising to which we are all commonly exposed is, not alright? There are already good theoretical reasons to believe that advertising is strongly associated with behavior,[3] and a body of empirical evidence has shown an association of advertising with food choice in short-term experiments[4] and in economic market analyses.[5]. By adding a population-health level analysis, Bleich et al[2] make an important and innovative contribution to our understanding of the role of advertising in health. The market-level data on exposure to restaurant advertising is a major—and largely unique—strength of this important article.

Results

Conclusion