A content analysis of children’s television advertising: focus on food and oral health

Abstract

Objectives: To analyse the nature and content of advertising during children's popular television viewing times with the specific aims of (i) identifying the proportion of advertising time devoted to confectionery and potentially cariogenic products (those which readily give rise to dental caries, more commonly known as tooth decay); and (ii) determining whether there is a variation in the advertisement of confectionery and other high-sugar products within children's school holiday time v. outside holiday time. Method: In five separate one-week periods, the output of the four most popular British children's commercial television channels was video-recorded during the most popular viewing times for children. In total, 503 h of television were recorded and analysed. Results: Analysis of the recordings revealed that 16?4 % of advertising time was devoted to food products; 6?3 % of all advertising time was devoted to potentially cariogenic products. Sugared cereals were the most commonly advertised highsugar product, followed by sweetened dairy products and confectionery (x 2 5 6524?8, df 5 4, P , 0?001). The advertisement of confectionery and highsugar foods appeared to be influenced by school holidays. Conclusions: Health-care professionals should be aware of the shift away from the advertisement of confectionery towards the promotion of foods that might be considered healthier but contain large amounts of hidden sugar. Keywords Food Advertising Television ChildrenDental caries and obesity both constitute a significant public health problem in the UK (1-3) and worldwide (4) . There is mounting evidence that obesity and dental caries are linked (5) and both are related to poor food selection behaviour. Furthermore, all three of these factors are more prevalent within lower socio-economic groups (6)(7)(8) . In 2006, 40 % of British 5-year-olds had experience of dental caries and these children had an average of 1?6 affected (i.e. decayed, missing or filled) teeth. There is a considerable range of caries experience, with 21 % of 5-year-olds in Mid Essex Primary Care Trust in England having at least one tooth affected by caries compared with 76 % in Merthyr Tydfil Local Health Board in Wales (2) . Obesity, especially in children, is increasing dramatically across the UK. Jebb et al.(3) reported that 4?0 % of British children aged 4-18 years were obese, with a further 15?4 % identified as overweight. Increasing obesity levels in children are closely linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome in adults (9) , which has major implications for life expectancy, quality of life and scarce health resources.There is an irrefutable association between sugar intake and tooth decay (10)

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Comparative evaluation of the influence of television advertisements on children and caries prevalence

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Food references in UK children's magazines — an oral health perspective

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