Food Advertising and Prevention of Childhood Obesity in Spain: Analysis of the Nutritional Value of the Products and Discursive Strategies Used in the Ads Most Viewed by Children from 2016 to 2018

Abstract

In Spain, 40% of children are overweight or obese. Television advertising is a widely acknowledged factor contributing to high-calorie food intake. This study longitudinally correlates some variables involved in childhood obesity prevention strategies in Spain. A mixed-methods approach was used. A quantitative analysis of audience data was conducted to determine the advertising campaigns most viewed by Spanish children from 2016 to 2018. The Nutri-score system was applied to determine the nutritional quality of the food advertised. A content analysis and a study of the discursive strategies used as an advertising ploy was undertaken. The results were examined in relation to the regulatory framework of the Spanish PAOS Code for the co-regulation of food advertising aimed at children. The study shows that Spanish advertising aimed at children mostly advertises very low nutritional value products. Moreover, these campaigns violate the PAOS Code in terms of the use of language in relation to the product, its benefits, and the appearance of popular characters. Our findings suggest a direct association between low nutritional value food ads and discursive strategies based on the intangible and extrinsic characteristics of these products. There remains the need for stricter legislation that takes into consideration the nutritional value of advertised foods and the language used in their hedonistic advertising.

Soft Drinks and Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Advertising in Spain: Correlation between Nutritional Values and Advertising Discursive Strategies

“…This idea coincides with the results of previous research that showed the ineffectiveness of the self-regulatory measures of the PAOS Code as a tool to prevent childhood obesity in Spain [1,4,5,20,25,32,33]. However, the aforementioned studies did not analyze other advertising media beyond TV or the advertising language used to attract children's attention.…”

“…The highest levels of TV viewing by minors occurs outside the legal time slot. An average audience of 19% of this group was recorded-more than 1.2 million minor spectators-between 10:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m. (prime time), with 5.4% of children also remained in front of the TV after midnight [4,33].…”

“…Even though paternalistic government restrictions on food and beverage advertising may be questioned, the existing regulatory framework should be reviewed [28,33]. Voluntary regulatory codes from many countries (e.g., United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand) have been ineffective in reducing exposures to non-healthy food advertising aimed at children [29,[46][47][48].…”

“…Voluntary regulatory codes from many countries (e.g., United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand) have been ineffective in reducing exposures to non-healthy food advertising aimed at children [29,[46][47][48]. On the contrary, stricter restrictions (e.g., Quebec, Norway, Sweden) confirm that a ban on this kind of advertising can be effective in lowering non-healthy food consumption and increasing social welfare [33,49,50].…”

“…Scientific research carried out in Spain so far has focused on the study of how advertising presents low nutritional value foods to children, and how that presentation violates the PAOS Code. Images, speech and the use of licensed or famous characters [4,5,20,25,32,33] are some of the analyzed aspects in relation to food advertising aimed at children. These studies, however, have focused specifically on television advertising, and have not taken other media into consideration.…”