A Quali-Quantitative Analysis of Food Advertising in Italian Chilldren's National TV Programming: Implications for School-Based Nutrition Educational Programs

Authors

  • Alberto Pellai Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy
  • Marta Nobile Università  degli Studi di Milano
  • Cristina Luti Scuola di Specializzazione in Igiene e Medicina Preventiva – Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6000/1929-5634.2012.01.01.8

Keywords:

childhood obesity, conditioned hyperphagia, media, advertisings, educational programs

Abstract

Globally it has been estimated that 10% of children and teens aged 6 to 18 are overweight or obese. Media and advertising agencies are considered social organizations capable to playing a central role in both promoting and challenging childhood obesity. To have a better understanding of this problem, it was investigated the quantity and the typology of advertising on air during children’s television broadcastings in Italy over a period of three months, analyzing all the TV programming targeting children aired in the six main TV national channels. This paper focuses on the main results which were obtained and suggests to integrate traditional nutritional educational programs targeting children with components taken from the field of media education.

References

Coon KA, Tucker KL4. Television and children's consumption patterns. A review of the literature. Minerva Pediatr 2002: 423-36.

Robinson TN, Hammer LD, Killen JD, et al. Does television viewing increase obesity and reduce physical activity? Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses among adolescent girls. Pediatrics 199: 273-80. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.91.2.273

Harris JL, Bargh JA, Brownell KD. Priming effects of television food advertising on eating behavior. Health Psychol 2009; 28(4): 404-13. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0014399 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014399

Halford JC, Gillespie J, Brown V, Pontin EE, Dovey TM. Effect of television advertisements for foods on food consumption in children. Appetite 2004; 42(2): 221-25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2003.11.006 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2003.11.006

Dietz WH, Gortmaker SL. TV or not TV: Fat is the question. Pediatrics 1993; 91: 499-501. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.91.2.499

Food Standards Agency: Review of research on the effect of food promotion to children - Final Report [Internet]. Available from: http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/promofoodchildrenexec.pdf

Child obesity - food advertising in context. Children's food choices, parents' understanding and influence, and the role of food promotions. Available from: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/tv/reports/food_ads/

Borzekowski DL, Robinson TN. The 30-second effect: an experiment revealing the impact of television commercials on food preferences of preschoolers. J Am Diet Assoc 2001; 101(1): 42-6. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0002-8223(01)00012-8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0002-8223(01)00012-8

Wilson N, Quigley R, Mansoor O. Food ads on TV: a health hazard for children? Aust NZJ Public Health Dec 1999; 23(6): 647-50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-842X.1999.tb01553.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-842X.1999.tb01553.x

Powell LM, Szczypka G, Chaloupka FJ, Braunschweig CL. Nutritional Content of Television Food Advertisements Seen by Children and Adolescents in the United States. PEDIATRICS September 2007; pp. 576-83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1542/peds.2006-3595 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2006-3595

Kelly B, Hattersley L, King L, Flood V. Persuasive food marketing to children: use of cartoons and competitions in Australian commercial television advertisements. Health Promotion International 2008; pp. 337-344. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/dan023

Utter J, Scragg R, Schaaf D. Associations between television viewing and consumption of commonly advertised foods among New Zealand children and young adolescents. Public Health Nutr 2006; 9(5): 606-12. http://dx.doi.org/10.1079/PHN2005899 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1079/PHN2005899

Halford J, Boyland EJ, Hughes G, Oliveira LP, Dovey TM. Beyond-brand effect of television (TV) food advertisements/ commercials on caloric intake and food choice of 5–7-year-old children. Appetite 2007; pp. 263-267. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2006.12.003 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2006.12.003

Dixon HG, Scully ML, Wakefield MA, White VM, Crawford DA. The effects of television advertisements for junk food versus nutritious food on children's food attitudes and preferences. Social Science & Medicine October 2007; pp. 1311-1323. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2007.05.011 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2007.05.011

Kessler D. The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite. New York: Rodale 2009.

Pellai A. Tutti a tavola. Storie divertenti per mangiare contenti. Centro Studi Erickson: Trento 2010.

Strasburger V, Wilson B. Children, Adolescents, and the Media. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications 2002.

Domine V. The Coming of Age of Media Literacy Education, JMLE 2011; 3: 8-10. DOI: https://doi.org/10.23860/jmle-3-1-5

Strasburger V, Jordan AB, Donnerstein E. Health Effects of Media on Children and Adolescents. Pediatrics; April 2010 Vol. 125, Nr 4. Available from: http://pediatrics.aappublica-tions.org/content/early/2010/03/01/peds.2009-2563.full.pdf+html DOI: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2009-2563

National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE). 2007. “Key Questions to Ask When Analyzing Media Messages.” Available from: http://namle.net/wp/content/ uploads/2009/09/NAMLEKeyQuestions0708.pdf

Centers of disease control and prevention, 2004. “Youth Engagement”. Available from: www.cdc.gov/tobacco/ stateandcommunity/bp_userguide_youth/pdfs/youth_engagement.pdf

Committee on Public Education; American Academy of Pediatrics, 1999. “Media Education”. Available from: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/104/2/341.full DOI: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.104.2.341

Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2001. “Helping Youth Navigate the Media Age: A New Approach to Drug Prevention”. Available from: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ Digitization/192736NCJRS.pdf

Downloads

Published

2012-10-05

How to Cite

Pellai, A., Nobile, M., & Luti, C. (2012). A Quali-Quantitative Analysis of Food Advertising in Italian Chilldren’s National TV Programming: Implications for School-Based Nutrition Educational Programs. Journal of Nutritional Therapeutics, 1(1), 81–85. https://doi.org/10.6000/1929-5634.2012.01.01.8

Issue

Section

Articles