Exposure of French Children and Adolescents to Advertising for Foods High in Fat, Sugar or Salt.

Hélène Escalon,Bernard Srour,Anne-Juliette Serry,Didier Courbet,Chantal Julia,Serge Hercberg

doi:10.3390/nu13113741

Abstract

Food marketing of products high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS), including television advertising, is one of the environmental factors considered as a contributor to the obesity epidemic. The main objective of this study was to quantify the exposure of French children and adolescents to television advertisements for HFSS products. TV food advertisements broadcast in 2018 were categorized according to the Nutri-Score of the advertised products. These advertisements, identified according to the days and times of broadcast, were cross-referenced with audience data for 4- to 12-year-olds and 13- to 17-year-olds. More than 50% of food advertisements seen on television by children and adolescents concerned HFSS products, identified as classified as Nutri-Score D and E. In addition, half of advertisements for D and E Nutri-Score products were seen by children and adolescents in the evening during peak viewing hours, when more than 20% of both age groups watched television. On the other hand, during the same viewing hours, the percentage of children and adolescents who watched youth programs, the only programs subject to an advertising ban, was very low (<2%). These results show that the relevance of regulating advertising at times when the television audience of children and adolescents is the highest and not targeted at youth programs, in order to reduce their exposure to advertising for products of low nutritional quality.

Highlights

The prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and young people has increased significantly worldwide
The main objective of this study was to quantify the exposure of French children and adolescents to television advertising and TV sponsorship for food products, and in particular for high in fat, salt and sugar (“HFSS”) foods, in 2018
In 2018, 57% of food advertising investments in all media, which could be classified according to the Nutri-Score, concerned DE Nutri-Score products, while 43% concerned

Summary

Introduction

The prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and young people has increased significantly worldwide. The number of obese children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 has increased tenfold over the past four decades [1]. This evolution varied from country to country. In Europe in the last two decades, an increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children was observed in Mediterranean countries, while these rates have stabilized in other countries, including France [2]. In France, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children increased at the end of the 1990s [3], and has stabilized since the 2000s [3–6]. This prevalence remains high, and social inequalities are marked [5,7,8]

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