MONDAY, Dec. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Children and adolescents are being bombarded by so many ads that medical experts now fear for their health.

Some 40,000 ads a year from television alone may be boosting obesity, poor nutrition and cigarette and alcohol use among U.S. youth, according to a revised statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

The statement, which appears in the December issue of Pediatrics, calls for more media education to counter some of advertising's negative effects.

"We're pleading with pediatricians and parents to become aware that consumeristic tendencies are being fed right from birth," said Dr. Donald Shifrin, chairman of the AAP Committee on Communications, which issued the statement, and a pediatrician in private practice in Seattle. "We have to understand that youngsters under a certain age cannot differentiate between a commercial and a program. To them, it's real. There should be some effort on the part of parents to point out that this is a commercial."

Continue reading Ads Are Selling Kids Poor Health.