Assessment of Foods Advertised on Children’s TV Programs

Abstract

Residents| December 01 2005 Assessment of Foods Advertised on Children’s TV Programs AAP Grand Rounds (2005) 14 (6): 66. https://doi.org/10.1542/gr.14-6-66 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Assessment of Foods Advertised on Children’s TV Programs. AAP Grand Rounds December 2005; 14 (6): 66. https://doi.org/10.1542/gr.14-6-66 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All PublicationsAll JournalsAAP Grand RoundsPediatricsHospital PediatricsPediatrics In ReviewNeoReviewsAAP NewsAll AAP Sites Search Advanced Search Topics: food Source: Harrison K, Marske A. Nutritional content of foods advertised during the television programs children watch most. Am J Public Health. 2005;95:1568–1574. To better characterize their effect on young viewers, investigators from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, coded advertisements for food products shown during television programs heavily watched by children. Food advertisements shown over a 5-week period during 40 hours of the most popular television programs among viewers aged 6–11 years were reviewed. The sample consisted of the 10 most viewed hours from each of 4 sources: network Saturday, network prime time, syndication, and cable. Episodes that appeared more than once during the sampling period were sampled randomly. The first 4 food products and human characters appearing on screen were coded according to various dimensions, including type of target audience (child vs general) and characteristics of the actors shown (age, gender, race, eating behavior, body type). Nutritional analysis of the advertised foods was performed using the Nutrition Facts label for each item. The sample of television programs yielded 1,424 advertisements, 29.9% of which were for food products, with an average of 10.6 food advertisements per hour. Forty-six percent of advertisements were for convenience foods, 36.1% were for candy/sweets/soft drinks, and 9.1% were for breads/cereals. The remaining food categories (fruits/vegetables, dairy products, meat/poultry, fish) were featured in only 7.6% of advertisements combined. Comparing child-directed versus general-audience-directed advertisements, the children’s group contained a significantly higher proportion of candy/ sweets/soft drinks advertisements (43.8% vs 29.6%, P<.001) while the general group contained a higher proportion of convenience food advertisements (34.2% vs 57.1%, P<.001). The advertised food products were more likely to be consumed as snacks rather than at mealtime. Advertisement-associated characters tended to be male (64%), white (75%), and of average weight (76%). The average serving size for all foods was 140 g/mL, with an average of 229 calories (kcal) per serving (range 0–1650). To better assess the advertised foods, investigators combined all foods in the viewing sample into 2 composite foods (1 for each audience group). A Nutrition Facts label was generated for each composite food sample based on a 200-calorie serving size. The general-audience food was found to be high in fat (total fat=13% of daily value), whereas the children-audience food was found to be especially high in sugar (sugars=17 g, total carbohydrates=10% of daily value). Dr. Hargunani has disclosed no financial relationships relevant to this commentary. The most recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data showed that the prevalence of obesity among children aged 6 to 19 years was 16% in 2002, an increase of 45% compared to 1988–1994.1 Despite the attention and discourse surrounding this public health issue, little is known about ways to successfully treat childhood obesity. Diet, exercise, genetics, and other complex factors are thought to contribute to the epidemic.2 This article highlights a factor that may also play a role: advertising directed at children. In the past, television has been implicated as a contributor to obesity... You do not currently have access to this content.