SpongeBob Is Making Kids Fat?

[Shark Tale]

First SpongeBob is accused of making kids dumber, and now it is apparently accused of making kids obese.

 

 

By hour three of a cartoon marathon, most children are slack-jawed zombies. There they sit, lulled by the hum of terrible (and terribly catchy) theme songs, entranced by saturated HD colorscapes.

 

They may look like passive viewers, but their absorptive minds are far from inactive. In fact, a new study suggests the little critics silently pass judgment on animated characters just as adults rag on fictional humans. Specifically, kids fat-shame cartoons.

 

Psychologists at Colorado State University wanted to assess the reach of powerful stereotypes, according to a release. They asked several hundred kids (most between the ages of eight and 13) about their perceptions of non-human cartoon character body types. They weren’t sure if children were even aware of bodyweight norms in the first place, let alone if they applied those norms to non-human creatures.

 

But sure enough, children had no problem grasping that “round means fat” — they saw egg-shaped characters as overweight.

 

Is it surprising that 13-year-olds are sizists? In my experience, any given middle-school is populated by Lord of the Flies characters. I suppose some tweens are still heart-warmingly naive, but I imagine others breaking into liquor cabinets and struggling with bulimia. Maybe five-year-olds would have been a more compelling population for this study?

 

In any case, the study had one very compelling finding: Exposure to chubby cartoon characters preceded greater cookie consumption. Kids who saw chubsters on screen, said one author in the study release, “have a tendency to eat almost twice as much indulgent food as kids who are exposed to perceived healthier looking cartoon characters or no characters at all.”

 

Researchers also found they could control these cookie-munching habits: When they asked kids questions about healthy lifestyle choices, they subsequently ate fewer cookies. This suggests that, like dogs and simple-celled organisms, kids are influenced by what’s on their mind at a given moment.

 

With these findings in mind, the study’s authors would like to see food companies make more responsible kid-marketing choices.

 

 

 

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/van-winkles/spongebob-squarepants-is_b_7796314.html

 

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

[Guest hilaryfan80]

The thing with psychology is that it's only a finding until it's been proven correct so many times that it becomes a recognized theory. This is only one finding within a small sample of kids. Until further proof has been found, the results of this one study isn't enough to prove that round characters make kids fat.

 

I wish the media would learn this instead of reporting it as fact.

[BoJack Horseman]

That makes no sense. I'm pretty sure this is made just to get SB more critism.

[The Simpsons]

How can watching a TV show make you fat? Isn't that what McDonald's is for?

[Metal Snake]

I can't believe that this is legit. This reads like a parody. >.<

 

Edited March 23, 2018 by jjsthekid

[MMM]

what the heck?

 

Where's the Onion when you need them

[Less_SpongeBob]

Please stop being so stupid and blind, government, for the last time, young children are not the target audience. Second of all, where's the evidence for this? Was there any logical backing up other than trying to get attention by causing controversy? That's all the news is for, overreacting to minute details just to get attention. If kids are getting fat, it's far more likely due to the commercials or just allowing kids to sit in front of a TV all day, it has nothing to do with the show itself.

[JCM]

Statistics say that 80% of statistics are made up on the spot.

 

Besides that, correlation does not imply causation, and that "SpongeBob Squarepants Is Making Your Kid Fat" headline is nothing but shameless clickbait.

[Less_SpongeBob]

Quite honestly, I believe that reading books excessively is just as bad as watching too much TV.

[BoJack Horseman]

Maybe It's because SpongeBob makes krabby patties and kids would want to eat burgers but even that won't effect kids thst much. the blame goes to junk food restaurants, not a TV show for goodness sake.

[Guest hilaryfan80]

Statistics say that 80% of statistics are made up on the spot.

 

Besides that, correlation does not imply causation, and that "SpongeBob Squarepants Is Making Your Kid Fat" headline is nothing but shameless clickbait.

 

It's an actual study and actual findings, so there is some basis to the article; however, the article treats it as if one study is fact, and that's not how it works in the psychology world. That's as silly as saying that one finding in archeology proves global warming.

 

 

Please stop being so stupid and blind, government, for the last time, young children are not the target audience. Second of all, where's the evidence for this? Was there any logical backing up other than trying to get attention by causing controversy? That's all the news is for, overreacting to minute details just to get attention. If kids are getting fat, it's far more likely due to the commercials or just allowing kids to sit in front of a TV all day, it has nothing to do with the show itself.

 

I agree. If you're too lazy to make sure that your kid isn't eating too many cookies, it's more the parent's fault than a TV show.

[So Sejima]

Let Neil deGrasse Tyson explain weight loss:

[Amphibia]

whose bright idea making kids fat after watching SB?

 

*facepalm*

[Jane]

Bulls**t.

[NegiSpongie]

Dumb

[E.V.I.L.]

Sure let's blame our problems on the generational youth because I can'ta dmit my own faults!

[TheBigOcean]

It's called McDonalds

tbh it's actually the Parents fault... the kid would be fat if the parent wouldn't let them eat all that junk food all the time

[MMM]

what the heck?

someone edited my post...my apologies

[Old Man Jenkins]

IT'S SPONGE*burps*BOB'S FAULT

[Wumbo]

This is all just a ploy to get their SpongeBob-themed vertical striped suits selling.