Dataset Information

Children's measured exposure to food and beverage advertising on television in a regulated environment, May 2011-2019.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To quantify food/beverage advertising on television in Montreal (Quebec), to estimate and characterise children's exposure and to examine trends over time.

Design

Television food advertising data were licensed for nineteen food categories and eighteen stations for May 2011, 2016 and 2019. The frequency of advertisements and the average number viewed per child aged 2-11 years overall, by food category and by station type (i.e. youth-appealing (n 3) and generalist (n 15) stations) were determined. The percent change in advertising frequency and exposure between May 2011 and 2019 was calculated.

Setting

Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Participants

This study used media data and did not directly involve human participants.

Results

The total number of television advertisements increased by 11 % between May 2011 (n 41 084) and May 2019 (n 45 406); however, exposure to food/beverage advertisements decreased by 53 %, going from 226 ads/child in May 2011 to 107 ads/child in May 2019. Overall, the most advertised food categories in both May 2011 and 2019 were fast food (29·8 % and 39·2 %, respectively) followed by chocolate (14·2 %) in 2011 and savory snacks (9·7 %) in 2019. In May 2019, children were predominantly exposed to unhealthy food categories such as fast food (41·3 % of exposure), savory snacks (7·5 %), chocolate (5·0 %) and regular soft drinks (4·5 %), and most (89·3 %) of their total exposure occurred on generalist television stations.

Conclusion

Despite Quebec's restrictions on commercial advertising directed to children under 13 years, Quebecois children are still frequently exposed to unhealthy food advertising on television. Government should tighten restrictions to protect children from this exposure.

SUBMITTER: Pauze E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10195613 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Children's measured exposure to food and beverage advertising on television in a regulated environment, May 2011-2019.

Pauzé Elise E Remedios Lauren L Potvin Kent Monique M

Public health nutrition 20210412 17

<h4>Objective</h4>To quantify food/beverage advertising on television in Montreal (Quebec), to estimate and characterise children's exposure and to examine trends over time.<h4>Design</h4>Television food advertising data were licensed for nineteen food categories and eighteen stations for May 2011, 2016 and 2019. The frequency of advertisements and the average number viewed per child aged 2-11 years overall, by food category and by station type (i.e. youth-appealing (n 3) and generalist (n 15) s ...[more]

PMID: 33843565

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Project description:Reducing children's exposure to advertisements promoting unhealthy foods and beverages has been recognized by the World Health Organization as a key strategy to improve children's diets and reduce childhood obesity. To examine changes in children's exposure to food-related (food, beverage, and restaurant) television advertising, including for products high in nutrients to limit (NTL; ie, saturated fat, trans fat, total sugars, and sodium) based on federal Interagency Working Group guidelines, following changes in the voluntary industry self-regulatory Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI). This repeated cross-sectional study used US television ratings data on advertising exposure from The Nielsen Company for 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, and 2022. Food and beverage product advertisements were assessed for nutritional content. Participants included 2- to 5-year-old and 6-to 11-year-old children. Data analysis was performed from July 2023 to January 2024. Changes in CFBAI standards in 2014 and 2020. The primary outcome was the number of food-related advertisements seen per year and percentage of food and beverage product advertisements high in NTL, on all programming and children's programming (defined as ≥35% child audience share). From 2013 to 2022, total advertisements seen per year declined by 77.6% (from 4611 to 1035) for 2- to 5-year-olds and by 78.5% (from 4860 to 1046) for 6- to 11-year-olds. Advertisements seen on children's programming decreased by 95.1% (from 1703 to 84 per year) for 2- to 5-year-olds and by 97.0% (from 1745 to 52 per year) for 6- to 11-year-olds. The percentages of advertisements for products high in NTL decreased from 2013 to 2022 but were still high: 68.9% for all programming and 63.9% for children's programming for 2- to 5-year-olds, and 68.4% for all programming and 60.6% for children's programming for 6- to 11-year-olds. The majority (51%-52%) of CFBAI-member food and beverage advertisements on children's programming remained high in NTL. Black children saw more food-related television advertisements than White children (58% more for 2- to 5-year-olds and 72% more for 6- to 11-year-olds); however, the percentage of advertisements for food and beverage products high in NTL seen was similar by race. In this repeated cross-sectional study of children's exposure to food-related television advertisements, exposure via children's programming decreased substantially. However, most advertisements seen were still for unhealthy products, and exposure from all programming remained substantial. Findings of more than 90% of advertising exposure not from children's programming and more than 1000 food-related advertisements seen per year suggest the need for government regulations based on time of day rather than programming.

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Dataset Information

Children's measured exposure to food and beverage advertising on television in a regulated environment, May 2011-2019.

Objective

Design

Setting

Participants

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Children's measured exposure to food and beverage advertising on television in a regulated environment, May 2011-2019.

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