Commercials do sell products, which is bad news when so many TV ads are for unhealthy foods. Researchers found that kids ages 7 to 11 ate 45 percent more while watching a half-hour cartoon interspersed with ads for food than those who watched the same cartoon with ads featuring non-food items. Another experiment showed that adults ate more while watching TV shows with snack food ads than those with ads promoting healthful foods or good nutrition.
Source: Health Psychology, July 2009