There's a continuing obesity epidemic among young kids in the U.S. and part of that can be blamed on recording artists that endorse unhealthy food and beverage products.

The first quantifiable examination of the nutritional quality of food and drink endorsements by music celebrities popular among teens discovered almost all food and beverage products marketed by these stars are unhealthy, said a new study by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center.

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The study found that 65 of 163 identified pop stars were associated with 57 different food and beverage brands. Food and nonalcoholic beverages were the second-largest endorsement category, comprising 18 percent of endorsements. These ranked after consumer goods at 26 percent and ahead of retail at 11 percent.

Of 69 beverages endorsed, 49 or 71 percent were sugar-sweetened. Full-calorie soft drinks were the most commonly endorsed. In contrast, water-related endorsements appeared only three times.

Food and beverage marketing has been identified by epidemiologic and psychology studies as a significant environmental contributor to childhood obesity. In 2012, over one-third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Public Health Service.

The study noted that music stars frequently endorse many commercial products whose target audiences are mainly children. It said this type of advertising is contributing to the alarming rise in childhood and teen obesity in the U.S.

Soda and other sugary drinks, fast food and sweets are among the most common snack products endorsed by famous recording artists, said the study published in the journal Pediatrics. Equally alarming, none of the music stars identified in the study endorsed fruits, vegetables or whole grains. Only one endorsed a natural food deemed healthy--pistachios.

This is probably the first study to use rigorous nutritional analysis to evaluate healthfulness of food and drinks marketed by music stars. The study reviewed dozens of ads disseminated over a 14-year period.

Lead author Marie Bragg, Ph.D, assistant professor in the Department of Population Health at NYU Langone, conducted a study of celebrity athlete endorsements using similar methods three years ago.

"Because of our nation's childhood and teenage obesity public health crises, it is important to raise awareness about how companies are using celebrities popular with these audiences to market their unhealthy products," said Dr. Bragg.

"Research has already shown that food advertising leads to overeating, and the food industry spends $1.8 billion per year marketing to youth alone."

The study identified popular music stars by going through Billboard Magazine's "Hot 100" song charts from 2013 and 2014. It also verified their popularity and marketing appeal with teens by reviewing Teen Choice Award winners. The study quantified the number of YouTube video views associated with the celebrities' food and nonalcoholic beverage brand endorsements.

The investigators then catalogued every endorsement between 2000 and 2014 using AdScope, an advertising database that contains all forms of ads (TV, magazine and radio). They also searched for official commercials or endorsements on YouTube and in media sources. 

Tagsobesity, U.S., NYU Langone Medical Center, recording artists, unhealthy food