Kids who play an online game promoting healthy foods and beverages appear more likely to choose nutritious snacks than those who play a game promoting unhealthy products.

A new report into lardy kids points out that obesity rates among among western kids have soared during the past 40 years. It said that "One potential contributor to the rise in obesity is media exposure, primarily because television advertising markets high-calorie
foods and beverages that have little nutritional value.”

While marketeers have been quick to use the Internet and computer games to advertise food legal restrictions and regulations are virtually non-existent. Advergames, online computer games developed specifically to promote a brand, often featuring logos and characters, are present on many food and beverage Web sites.

A study of kids who use these games found that if the kids were “rewarded” for choosing healthy foods, instead of unhealthy ones, the kids were less likely to be lardy. Tiffany Pempek, and Sandra Calvert, of Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., said that the kids liked both games but selected and ate whatever snacks were being marketed by the advergame, healthy or not.

The findings suggest that public concerns about online games that market unhealthy foods are justified, the authors note, but also that the technology could be used to promote nutritious foods.

They argue that eating patterns established during childhood affect health throughout the lifespan. Thus, it is important that we find ways to promote a healthy lifestyle for our children from an early age, particularly those who come from low-income areas where the risk of obesity is greatest.