ABSTRACT
The developed world is experiencing an unprecedented childhood obesity crisis in which nearly 20 percent of children living in both the United States and Europe are obese (World Health Organization, 2012). Serious health problems associated with obesity (e.g., diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers) have sparked projections that US children will have shorter life spans than their parents for the first time in modern history (Olshansky et al., 2005). The global prevalence of childhood obesity has largely been attributed to environmental factors, such as media exposure. This chapter examines the relationship between media exposure and childhood obesity, including the mechanisms by which media may contribute to or curtail the obesity epidemic.
