 |
A Quarter Century of TV Food Advertising Targeted at Children
Objective:
To analyze current trend in television advertising targeted
to children, and to compare results to the historical perspective
of the last quarter century. Methods: Sixteen videotaped
hours of Saturday morning children's programming on 4 network channels
were evaluated for commercial content based on Food Guide Pyramid
and USDA Child Nutrition criteria. Results: Of 353 commercials
analyzed, 63% were for food products. Overall nutritional quality
of commercials remains poor, promoting a high-fat, low-fiber diet.
Conclusion: Children's television food advertising continues
to send inappropriate nutrition messages with no improvement noted
in 25 years. As it appears this is unlikely to change, health educators
are challenged to involve parents in helping their children become
more educated consumers. |