Obesogenic television food advertising to children in Malaysia: sociocultural variations

Abstract

BackgroundFood advertising on television (TV) is well known to influence children's purchasing requests and models negative food habits in Western countries. Advertising of unhealthy foods is a contributor to the obesogenic environment that is a key driver of rising rates of childhood obesity. Children in developing countries are more at risk of being targeted by such advertising, as there is a huge potential for market growth of unhealthy foods concomitant with poor regulatory infrastructure. Further, in developing countries with multi-ethnic societies, information is scarce on the nature of TV advertising targeting children.ObjectivesTo measure exposure and power of TV food marketing to children on popular multi-ethnic TV stations in Malaysia.DesignEthnic-specific popular TV channels were identified using industry data. TV transmissions were recorded for each channel from November 2012 to August 2013 (16 hr/day) for randomly selected weekdays and weekend days during normal days and repeated during school holidays (n=88 days). Coded food/beverage advertisements were grouped into core (healthy), non-core (non-healthy), or miscellaneous (unclassified) food categories. Peak viewing time (PVT) and persuasive marketing techniques were identified.ResultsNon-core foods were predominant in TV food advertising, and rates were greater during school holidays compared to normal days (3.51 vs 1.93 food ads/hr/channel, p<0.001). During normal days’ PVT, the ratio of non-core to core food advertising was higher (3.25 food ads/hr/channel), and this more than trebled during school holidays to 10.25 food ads/hr/channel. Popular channels for Indian children had the lowest rate of food advertising relative to other ethnic groups. However, sugary drinks remained a popular non-core product advertised across all broadcast periods and channels. Notably, promotional characters doubled for non-core foods during school holidays compared to normal days (1.91 vs 0.93 food ads/hr/channel, p<0.001).ConclusionsThis study highlights non-core food advertising, and predominantly sugary drinks are commonly screened on Malaysian TV channels. The majority of these sugary drinks were advertised by multinational companies, and this observation warrants regulatory attention.

The effect of influencer marketing of food and a “protective” advertising disclosure on children's food intake

“…Children exposed to influencer marketing of a branded unhealthy snack (with and without an advertising disclosure) consumed more of the marketed snack relative to the alternative, whereas children exposed to non-food marketing did not, which supports Hypothesis (1). Children exposed to influencer marketing of a branded unhealthy snack (with and without an advertising disclosure) did not differ in intake of an alternative snack, compared with children exposed to non-food marketing, which supports Hypothesis (2). The results also support Hypothesis (3), as including an advertising disclosure in influencer food marketing was not effective in reducing children's kcal intake.…”

“…The well‐documented global increases in childhood obesity prevalence are likely to be driven by an obesogenic environment including the excessive marketing of unhealthy foods, particularly to children . Substantial evidence illustrates the acute impact of marketing foods high in saturated fat, salt, and/or free sugars (HFSS) on children's dietary health .…”

Non-core food product advertising on free-to-air television in Hong Kong

“…Baby and toddler milk formula and dietary supplements were identified as two major product types being promoted on Hong Kong television. Regarding food categories, non-core products were the most frequently advertised (35•2 % of food advertisements) in Hong Kong, which is in line with international studies (19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24) . The rate of non-core product advertising in Hong Kong was 2•3 advertisements per channel hour, which is lower than the reported global average of 3•4 (20) and the Asia-Pacific average of 6•0 (22) .…”

“…Previous studies on the extent and nature of television food advertising concluded that the non-core food advertising rate was higher during children's viewing time (19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24) . On the contrary, the literature shows that prime time is more likely to be associated with the airing of advertisements for non-core products than advertisements for core products (defined as items that form part of a healthy diet such as vegetables and fruits) (25)(26)(27)(28) .…”

What's on YouTube? A Case Study on Food and Beverage Advertising in Videos Targeted at Children on Social Media

“…Food and beverage ads were coded according to a standard list of 36 food codes 14 (Appendix 2), with modifications made for better relevance to the Malaysian food supply as per a previous study focusing on television ads. 47 Each food code was further assigned to one of three food categories (core, noncore, and miscellaneous foods). Core foods are nutrient dense and low in discretionary energy and can be recommended to be consumed daily, while noncore foods are high in undesirable nutrients such as high fat, refined sugars, and salt.…”