At the same time, advertisers present children with models who are impossibly slim. Over one-third of girls in grades 5 to 8 report dieting in the last year, and studies document that discontent with body images rises with exposure to fashion magazines. Advertising even affects the way children play. The most advertised, bestselling toys are linked to media programs. Yet children often play less creatively with toys based on characters from television and film.
Young children are vulnerable to marketing exploitation.
They tend to believe what they see, they don't understand that ads are meant to sell them something, and they have trouble differentiating between commercials and programming. The deregulation of children's television in 1984 made it possible to use programs to promote toys, further blurring the line between ads and shows. In addition, companies now wield increasingly sophisticated technology, extensive market research, and the expertise of child psychologists. The ubiquitous media, combined with virtually unrestricted marketing practices, makes obsolete the conventional wisdom that parents can protect their children from commercial culture. To some extent, parents can mitigate the effects of marketing, but unless families retreat to the woods, children are exposed at friends' houses, on the street, the playground, supermarkets, and even in school.