Abstract
(1) Background: Media play a significant role in forming audience perceptions about physical external appearance and food consumption patterns. It has been reported that children’s cartoons project slimness, and concomitantly consumption of poor nutritional quality food. However, data on the role of gender in this respect are lacking; thus, this was the aim of the present study. (2) Methods: 100 episodes of the 10 most popular cartoon series were analyzed. Characters’ body weight status was classified into underweight, normal weight and overweight, and foods consumed as core (e.g., fruit, vegetables) and non-core (e.g., sweets, snacks). Messages about characters’ attractiveness were recorded and classified according to their body weight status and gender. (3) Results: Out of 37 protagonists, 12 were female figures (32%), while out of the 10 thin protagonists, 7 were females (70%) and only 3 males (30%). Thin heroines were the recipients of the majority of the messages connotative to physical attractiveness (36 out of 58 messages). However, consumption of core and non-core foods did not differ within genders (core: z = −1.526, p = 0.127, non-core: z = −0.417, p = 0.667). (4) Conclusions: Females seem to be underrepresented in cartoon series but receive the majority of the comments related to physical appearance, with most of them addressing the attractiveness of a thin figure.
Highlights
Television is a pervasive purveyor of culture, providing a wide array of stereotypes and messages about eating that influence children’s food preferences [1,2], while media mainly advertise processed foods [3,4]
(4) Conclusions: Females seem to be underrepresented in cartoon series but receive the majority of the comments related to physical appearance, with most of them addressing the attractiveness of a thin figure
In 20 children’s movies, scenes depicting unhealthy food items outnumbered those depicting healthy items [11], while Eisenberg et al [12] found that cartoon comic series present scenes with unhealthy snacks along with excessive consumption more frequently than other TV shows such as sitcoms or dramas
Summary
Television is a pervasive purveyor of culture, providing a wide array of stereotypes and messages about eating that influence children’s food preferences [1,2], while media mainly advertise processed foods [3,4]. We have previously reported that in popular comic series, convenience foods (sweets, snacks and soft drinks) were seen to be consumed in more episodes than any other food category [8]. In 20 children’s movies, scenes depicting unhealthy food items outnumbered those depicting healthy items [11], while Eisenberg et al [12] found that cartoon comic series present scenes with unhealthy snacks along with excessive consumption more frequently than other TV shows such as sitcoms or dramas
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