Nutritional Content of Foods Advertised During the Television Programs Children Watch Most
Kristen Harrison, PhD and
Amy L. Marske, MA
Kristen Harrison is with the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. At the time of the study, Amy L Marske was a student in the Department of Speech Communication at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Kristen Harrison, Department of Speech Communication, University of Illinois, 244 Lincoln Hall, 702 South Wright Street, Urbana IL 61801 (e-mail: krishar{at}uiuc.edu).
Objectives. We sought to code food (nutritional content andfood type and eating occasion) and character (cartoon and liveaction) attributes of food advertisements airing during televisionprograms heavily viewed by children, and to represent and evaluatethe nutritional content of advertised foods in terms of thenutrition facts label.
Methods. Food advertisements (n=426) aimed at general and childaudiences were coded for food and character attributes. "NutritionFacts" label data for advertised foods (n=275) were then analyzed.
Results. Convenience/fast foods and sweets comprised 83% ofadvertised foods. Snacktime eating was depicted more often thanbreakfast, lunch, and dinner combined. Apparent character bodysize was unrelated to eating behavior. A 2000-calorie diet offoods in the general-audience advertisements would exceed recommendeddaily values (RDVs) of total fat, saturated fat, and sodium.A similar diet of foods in the child-audience advertisementswould exceed the sodium RDV and provide 171 g (nearly 1 cup)of added sugar.
Conclusions. Snack, convenience, and fast foods and sweets continueto dominate food advertisements viewed by children. Advertisedfoods exceed RDVs of fat, saturated fat, and sodium, yet failto provide RDVs of fiber and certain vitamins and minerals.
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