A new book called Generation Digital: Politics, Commerce and Childhood in the Age of the Internet by Kathryn C. Montgomery (an expert on children, teens, media and online marketing at American University’s School of Communication) claims that online and in-game advertising by junk food companies are partly to blame for the childhood obesity epidemic. Children have become a "coveted consumer demographic" by advertisers, she says. "Kids are constantly exposed to [junk food] ads and pester their parents into buying the unhealthy foods or, having money of their own, kids completely bypass their parents and purchase the items themselves."