Health Officials Claim that Because the Foods and Beverages Mentioned or Consumed on Many Television Programs

Question: Health officials claim that because the foods and beverages mentioned or consumed on many television programs are extremely low in nutritional value, watching television has a bad influence on the dietary habits of television viewers.

The claim by health officials depends on the presupposition that

(A) the eating and drinking habits of people on television programs are designed to mirror the eating and drinking habits of television viewers
(B) seeing some foods and beverages being consumed on or hearing them mentioned on television programs increases the likelihood that viewers will consume similar kinds of foods and beverages
(C) the food and beverage industry finances television programs so that the foods and beverages that have recently appeared on the market can be advertised on those programs
(D) television viewers are only interested in the people on television programs who have the same eating and drinking habits as they do
(E) the eating and drinking habits of people on television programs provide health officials with accurate predictions about the foods and beverages that will become popular among television viewers

“Health officials claim that because the foods and beverages mentioned or consumed on many television programs” – is a GMAT Critical question. This weakens the argument type of GMAT CR question. To answer the question, a candidate can by either finding a piece of evidence that would weaken the argument or have logical flaws in the argument. GMAT critical reasoning tests the logical and analytical skills of the candidates. This topic requires candidates to find the strengths and weaknesses of the argument, or find the logical flaw in the argument. The GMAT CR section contains 10 -13 GMAT critical reasoning questions out of 36 GMAT verbal questions.

Answer: B
Explanation: GMAT critical reasoning tests the reasoning skills along with the candidate's logical and analytical thinking abilities. The candidate has to deduce the correct option by finding the logically correct argument.

Health officials assume that watching television incorporates a bad influence on the dietary habits of television viewers. This is due to the foods and beverages mentioned or consumed on many television programs are extremely low in nutritional value.

This statement assumes that people watching television are impacted by watching such things on TV.

B restates what is assumed.

Seeing some foods and beverages being consumed or hearing them. These are mentioned on television programs that increase the likelihood that viewers will consume similar types of foods and beverages.

Now we will check each of the options and see which conditions are satisfied.

A) This is not correct. if the programs are designed to be mirrored then also it is not clear whether the people will get influenced by such programs or not.
B) Correct - If seeing them/hearing them (people on tv programs about foods and beverages) increases the chances. This implies influencing viewers to consume similar food, then the argument holds true.
C) This could not be the correct option as finances are not talked about in the paragraph.
D) This actually weakens the argument. If people already have the same habits as the people on tv programs would mean that tv programs are not influencing their decisions. It just happens to be their trait
E) Even if health officials can predict accurately, it is not clear what the results turn out to be. Hence does not affect the argument as such.

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