A Quarter Century of TV Food Advertising Targeted at Children

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Abstract
Objective: To analyze current trend in television advertising targeted to children, and to compare results to the historical perspective of the last quarter century. Methods: Sixteen videotaped hours of Saturday morning children's programming on 4 network channels were evaluated for commercial content based on Food Guide Pyramid and USDA Child Nutrition criteria. Results: Of 353 commercials analyzed, 63% were for food products. Overall nutritional quality of commercials remains poor, promoting a high-fat, low-fiber diet. Conclusion: Children's television food advertising continues to send inappropriate nutrition messages with no improvement noted in 25 years. As it appears this is unlikely to change, health educators are challenged to involve parents in helping their children become more educated consumers.

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