Celebrities and sports athletes are being understandably criticized for being in fast food or junk food commercials. Celebrities, and especially sports athletes, should not be endorsing fast food.

With these physically fit people supporting fast food companies like McDonald’s, public health advocates are criticizing these athletes and celebrities.

This has always been an issue with advocates that are against fast food companies. The problem is even more prominent now with obesity rates rising every year.

The 2011 National Survey of Children’s Health outlined that one in four children ages 10 to 17 in Minnesota are obese, and Minnesota has one of the lowest obesity rates in the country. A 2013 data compilation told similar data for adults currently living in Minnesota.

That is a grim prediction of our health as a state if we continue at this rate, and if we don’t stop glorifying nutrient poor foods, that statistic will surely climb even higher.

Around 100 brands are endorsed by athletes, including Peyton Manning, LeBron James and Serena Williams. Also, nearly all of the beverages and food items are nutrient poor products.

That is a sizable amount of brands, and all of them are endorsed by athletes, that children, teens and adults look up to.  Icons of athletic achievement supporting these nutrient-poor foods can cause public opinion of fast food to improve.

Data collected from Nielsen and AdScope says that these advertisements are mostly viewed by 12 to 17 year olds.

The more a product is presented the viewer may become more attracted to or in some cases more repulsed by the product.

Either way, these athletes are figures that some teens look up to and their appearance being in a food commercial increases the chance that they will purchase these unhealthy foods.

However, it’s a tall order to ask the athletes to stop supporting these companies. Especially considering Peyton Manning makes around 10 million dollars on his various endorsements every year.

Even so, considering the amount of time the public consumes these advertisements, it’s hard to resist when athletes endorse these quick pieces of satisfaction.

It’s harder to refrain from picking up a Big Mac when one’s favorite athlete is shown eating it over and over again on an advertisement.