Reality TV has been accused of promoting unrealistic body images and causing restrictive eating disorders in recent years.
But new analysis suggests shows like Love Island and Keeping Up with the Kardashians may also be playing a role in obesity.
Junk food was shown in nearly 90 per cent of the hundreds of reality TV episodes watched by researchers at Nottingham Trent University.
While reality TV is typically associated with reinforcing negative body images that are too thin, the researchers said it could also encourage viewers to turn to unhealthy snacks.
Dr Alexander Barker, lead author of the study, warned the shows are 'widely viewed' by young people who are likely to copy what 'inspirational role models' consume.
Researchers at Nottingham Trent University, who watched hundreds of episodes of reality TV, found 88 per cent of programmes showed junk food at an average rate of once every eight minutes. Pictured: Kim Kardashian eating chips on Keeping Up with the Kardashians
James Argent and Joey Essex scoff hotdogs on an episode of The Only Way Is Essex
Sophie Kasaei eats pizza on Geordie Shore
Current rules on the imagery children can be exposed to through TV 'are not sufficient and need revising', Dr Barker added.
The findings come amid soaring obesity rates across the UK, with more than a quarter of adults and one in three youngsters obese by the time they leave school.
Researchers watched every episode of 20 reality TV series broadcast in English-speaking countries between 2019 and 2020 to determine how exposed viewers were to foods high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS), as well as tobacco and alcohol.
Among the most shows were Love Island, Married at First Sight and Keeping Up with the Kardashians, along with Geordie Shore, Made in Chelsea and The Only Way is Essex.
The researchers calculated the proportion of one-minute intervals that referenced unhealthy products - either being consumed, discussed or in the background.
Junk foods were shown in 234 episodes (88 per cent). A shocking 13 per cent of the entire run-time of all the shows combined had unhealthy food in it.
The study, which was published in the Journal of Public Health, shows Coca Cola was the most commonly shown junk food, followed by Pringles, slush puppies, Wotsits and Ferrero Roche.
Heinz tomato sauce, Walkers crisps and Pepsi were also in the top 10 most shown unhealthy food and drinks.
Deliveroo — through which people can order junk food — was also singled out by the researchers as problematic.
British shows were more likely to show junk food content compared to series made in the US or Australia, the researchers found.
And there was 'significantly more' tobacco on broadcast TV programmes compared to those on Netflix — the only on-demand service the researchers looked at — results showed.
The researchers examined audience viewing figures in the UK for 15 of the shows and estimated they delivered 1.9billion impressions to viewers, including 21.4million children.
They warned that while reality TV is not specifically aimed at youngsters, it 'appeals to young people by providing a form of escapism and aspirational realism for viewers'.
Latest figures show 28 per cent of adults in England are obese, while one in three children are overweight or obese by the time they leave school.
The NHS spends more than £6billion per year treating obesity-related health problems and the cost is set to rocket to £9.7billion by 2050.
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