Abstract
ObjectiveTo conduct an analysis of the frequency of unhealthy food advertising on mainland Chinese television (TV) and children and adolescents’ risk of exposure to them.MethodsThe frequencies of all types of advertisements (ads) on forty TV channels in mainland China, the exact ad broadcast times, and the name and brand of all snacks and western fast foods advertised were recorded from 0800 hours to 2400 hours on both a weekday and a weekend day in a week. The difference in the frequencies of the diverse types of ads over eight time intervals (each time interval was 2 hours) were compared, and the trends in ad frequencies during the time intervals were described.ResultsThe TV channels broadcast 155 (91-183) (expressed as median [P 25-P 75]) food ads, 87 (38-123) snack ads, 49 (11-85) beverage ads, and 58 (25-76) ads of snacks suitable for limited consumption (SSLCs) in a day. The proportion of snack ads among food ads (SPF%) was 55.5% (40.3%-71.0%), and the proportion of SSLC ads among snack ads (LPS%) was 67.4% (55.4%-79.3%). The ad frequencies for food, snacks, SSLCs, and beverages demonstrated significant differences among the eight time intervals (all P=0.000). TV channels broadcast the most frequent ads for food, snacks, SSLCs, and beverages during the time interval from 2000 hours to 2200 hours among the eight time intervals.ConclusionsChinese children and adolescents may be at a high risk of exposure to unhealthy food advertising on TV. Reducing the exposure risk strongly requires multisectoral cooperation.
Highlights
As a developing country, China has experienced rapid economic and social development along with cultural and lifestyle changes during the past decades
Chinese children and adolescents may be at a high risk of exposure to unhealthy food advertising on TV
Among all the food groups, beverage ads were broadcast by the TV channels at the highest frequency [49 (11–85)], with the frequency of snacks suitable for limited consumption (SSLCs) beverage ads being 40 (7–62) and that of snacks that were suitable for moderate consumption (SSMCs) beverage ads being 9 (1–18)
Summary
China has experienced rapid economic and social development along with cultural and lifestyle changes during the past decades. The prevalence of overweight and obesity among Chinese children and adolescents has become increasingly common [9,10,11,12,13], which significantly threatens their health. In 2010, approximately 9.9% of Chinese school-aged children and adolescents (7–18 years old) were overweight and an additional 5.1% were obese, representing an estimated 30.43 million individuals [11]. A high prevalence of overweight and obesity increase cardiometabolic risks in Chinese children and adolescents [14,15,16,17], factors that are more likely to aggravate their future disease risk in adulthood. China will bear the substantial medical costs and the economic burden of overweight and obesity-related diseases if the epidemic continues to progress rapidly [18,19,20], suggesting an urgent need to control the obesity epidemic and prevent the development of chronic diseases
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
