Media advocacy has been defined as the art and science of working with the news media to enhance the portrayal of health, thereby potentially changing public opinion and influencing social norms. Although television has the power to educate on nutrition, exercise, and a wide variety of health related issues; it can also be a negative force through images and advertisements, which influence viewers to make poor food choices or to overeat. It has an effect on people of all walks of life-right from childhood to the elderly. Aim: To study the effect of television on the food selection and purchase in children 7 to 9 years. Methodology: 702 children from various categories of schools which represented their financial background were selected by purposive sampling from Nasik city. A questionnaire was given to them to elicit information regarding the selection and purchase decision of food, consumption of food in front of the television. Result: 17.1 % of the entire sample always have their food in front of the television. 61% of the total children make their purchase decisions of some of the food items depending on the advertisement seen on the television. The International school children are most influenced by the advertisements seen on the television. Conclusion: The influence of media, television in particular, is capable of being positive despite many of the negative images as long as audience makes good choices and use ability to think critically.
