Abstract
Breakfast is widely considered the most important meal of the day. Despite this, the consumption of ready to eat industrial products with low nutritional value is increasing. This study correlated longitudinally the nutritional value of breakfast products with advertising discursive strategies. The research design applied quantitative analysis to compile all media advertising data from 2015 to 2019, qualitative analysis of the content, and a study of the adverts’ discourse. Moreover, a Nutri-score analysis was used to determine the products’ nutritional value. Results indicated that breakfast products advertised in Spain presented a low or very low nutritional value. In addition, they showed that the lower the nutritional value of the product, the greater the proportion of positive emotions or moods that emerge from the discourse used in the advertisement. To establish effective policies for the prevention of obesity, greater involvement of the government, and better self-regulation mechanisms for the food industry, communication agencies, and advertisers are needed. In this sense, the hedonistic language used in advertisements for unhealthy food must treated as a priority. This measure would have the aim not only of protecting minors from ads for unhealthy food that are broadcast during breakfast time but would also generate healthy eating patterns within the family.
Highlights
Breakfast has been promoted for a long time as the most important meal of the day
The analysis focused on three research questions: First, what were the food campaigns that appealed to breakfast time? Second, what was the nutritional quality of these advertised products? Third, what kind of discourse was used in those campaigns?
The results revealed that from the 355 breakfast food campaigns between 2015 and 2019, only 13.8% corresponded to products with a high nutritional value (A Food Nutritional Label)
Summary
In Spain, only 3.36% of the population usually skips breakfast, whereas the rest of the population usually has a complete meal [1]. The Spanish complete breakfast usually consists of a dairy product, milk and cereal, and especially bread and industrial bakery goods and pastries, among others. Bread is the major contributor to total energy intake in all age groups (11.6%); this is followed by baked goods and pastries (6.8%), which ranks highest for children and adolescents and much lower for elderly adults. Meat products are the second-largest contributors (15.2%). Oils and fats (12.3%) are the third major contributor to energy intake. Milk and dairy products contributed 11.8% of total energy intake, and this is higher in children (15.9%) than in adults (11.8%). The presence of fruits and vegetables in Spanish homes during breakfast is almost imperceptible (4.7%), except for in the elderly population (8.7%) [2]
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