October 6/New York/MSNBC.com -- Food ads have more clout when it comes to children's food selection than even an involved parent, a new study in The Journal of Pediatrics suggests. The findings came as a surprise to researchers who were trying to determine the impact of commercials on kids' diets.
Researchers from Texas A&M International University studied 75 children between the ages of 3-8. The children were shown a film that included two cartoons with three commercials in between each cartoon. The kids were randomly divided into two groups: one watched a film that included a commercial for French fries; the other watched one that included a commercial for apple slices with dipping sauce.