Food advertising on British children’s television: a content analysis and experimental study with nine-year olds

OBJECTIVES: The nature and significance of food advertising during children’s television was examined in two studies: a content analysis of advertising (Study 1) and an investigation of the impact of food adverts on the self-perception of overweight children (Study 2).PARTICIPANTS: Study 1 monitored 91 h of children’s broadcasting on four terrestrial and satellite stations in the UK. In Study 2, 103 children aged 9.75 y viewed two videotaped cartoons containing either food or non-food product advertisements.MEASURES: Study 1 used a detailed record of advertisement style and content. Study 2 included a self-report measure of current state, and measures of self-esteem, dietary restraint, body weight and height.RESULTS: Half of the 828 adverts were for food products, 60% of which were for breakfast cereals and confectionery/snacks. Food advertisements used significantly more animation, stories, humour and the promotion of fun/happiness/mood alteration. In Study 2, significant interactions between advertisement type and overweight were observed on ratings of perceived health and appetite for sweets.CONCLUSION: While small changes are apparent, advertisements during children’s television are still dominated by those for foods of questionable nutritional value, in a manner designed to engage attention and emotional response. That overweight children appeared more influenced by their personal enhancement message, suggests the value of further work identifying who is most influenced and by what features of advertising.

[1]  Terri Gullickson,et al.  Adolescents and the Media: Medical and Psychological Impact. , 1996 .

[2]  A. Doyle,et al.  The paradoxical effect of diet commercials on reinhibition of dietary restraint. , 1994, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[3]  A. Hill.  Pre-Adolescent Dieting: Implications for Eating Disorders , 1993 .

[4]  J E Blundell,et al.  Dietary restraint in young adolescent girls: a functional analysis. , 1989, The British journal of clinical psychology.

[5]  H. Taras,et al.  Advertised foods on children's television. , 1995, Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine.

[6]  Jacob Cohen.  A Coefficient of Agreement for Nominal Scales , 1960 .

[7]  Brian M. Young.  Television Advertising and Children , 1991 .

[8]  A. Hill,et al.  Dieting awareness and low self-worth: related issues in 8-year-old girls. , 1998, The International journal of eating disorders.

[9]  M. Story,et al.  Food advertisements during children's Saturday morning television programming: are they consistent with dietary recommendations? , 1994, Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

[10]  J. L. Rasmussen,et al.  Violence, Conflict, Trickery, and Other Story Themes in TV Ads for Food for Children , 1994 .

[11]  A. Hill,et al.  Fat, friendless and unhealthy: 9-year old children's perception of body shape stereotypes. , 1995, International journal of obesity and related metabolic disorders : journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity.

[12]  S. Gortmaker,et al.  Do we fatten our children at the television set? Obesity and television viewing in children and adolescents. , 1985, Pediatrics.

[13]  A. C. Downs,et al.  Embarrassing age spots or just plain ugly? Physical attractiveness stereotyping as an instrument of sexism on american television commercials , 1985 .

[14]  S. Ogletree,et al.  Female attractiveness and eating disorders: Do children's television commercials play a role? , 1990 .

[15]  G. Waller,et al.  Body image distortion in pregnancy: a pilot study of the effects of media images , 1993 .

[16]  Jane Ogden,et al.  The Effect of the Media on Body Satisfaction: the Role of Gender and Size , 1996 .

[17]  C. Perry,et al.  Self-esteem and obesity in children and adolescents: a literature review. , 1995, Obesity research.

[18]  D. Roedder.  Age Differences in Children's Responses to Television Advertising: An Information-Processing Approach , 1981 .

[19]  G A Colditz,et al.  Television viewing as a cause of increasing obesity among children in the United States, 1986-1990. , 1996, Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine.

[20]  W H Dietz,et al.  Inactivity, diet, and the fattening of America. , 1990, Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

[21]  Donald F. Roberts,et al.  AGE DIFFERENCES IN CHILDREN'S PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGE INTENT , 1985 .

[22]  B. Everitt,et al.  Statistical methods for rates and proportions , 1973 .

[23]  G. Waller,et al.  Media Influences on Body Size Estimation in Anorexia and Bulimia , 1993, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[24]  Gerald J. Gorn,et al.  Behavioral Evidence of the Effects of Televised Food Messages on Children , 1982 .

[25]  Tatjana van Strien,et al.  The Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) for assessment of restrained, emotional, and external eating behavior , 1986 .

[26]  E. Stice,et al.  Relation of media exposure to eating disorder symptomatology: an examination of mediating mechanisms. , 1994, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[27]  A. Hill,et al.  A weight on children's minds: body shape dissatisfactions at 9-years old. , 1994, International journal of obesity and related metabolic disorders : journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity.

[28]  G. R. Leon,et al.  Self-esteem and change in body mass index over 3 years in a cohort of adolescents. , 1996, Obesity research.

[29]  Policy Statement: Children's Television , 1994 .

[30]  R. Klesges,et al.  Effects of television on metabolic rate: potential implications for childhood obesity. , 1993, Pediatrics.

[31]  E. Stice.  Review of the evidence for a sociocultural model of bulimia nervosa and an exploration of the mechanisms of action. , 1994 .