Child-targeted fast-food television advertising exposure is linked with fast-food intake among pre-school children

To determine whether exposure to child-targeted fast-food (FF) television (TV) advertising is associated with children's FF intake in a non-experimental setting. Cross-sectional survey conducted April-December 2013. Parents reported their pre-school child's TV viewing time, channels watche...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Public health nutrition 2017-06, Vol.20 (9), p.1548-1556
Main Authors: Dalton, Madeline A, Longacre, Meghan R, Drake, Keith M, Cleveland, Lauren P, Harris, Jennifer L, Hendricks, Kristy, Titus, Linda J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Advertising
Advertising as Topic
Age
Behavioural nutrition
Channels
Child Behavior - psychology
Child, Preschool
Children
Children & youth
Consumption
Cross-Sectional Studies
Demographics
Demography
Eating - psychology
Exposure
Families & family life
Fast food
Fast Foods
Female
Food
Food Assistance
Food intake
Humans
Infants
Male
Medicine
New Hampshire
Nutrition
Obesity
Parents
Parents & parenting
Parents - psychology
Pediatrics
Preschool children
Research Papers
Restaurants
Socioeconomic Factors
Studies
Television
Television advertising
Viewing
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Summary:To determine whether exposure to child-targeted fast-food (FF) television (TV) advertising is associated with children's FF intake in a non-experimental setting. Cross-sectional survey conducted April-December 2013. Parents reported their pre-school child's TV viewing time, channels watched and past-week FF consumption. Responses were combined with a list of FF commercials (ads) aired on children's TV channels during the same period to calculate children's exposure to child-targeted TV ads for the following chain FF restaurants: McDonald's, Subway and Wendy's (MSW). Paediatric and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) clinics in New Hampshire, USA. Parents (n 548) with a child of pre-school age. Children's mean age was 4·4 years; 43·2 % ate MSW in the past week. Among the 40·8 % exposed to MSW ads, 23·3 % had low, 34·2 % moderate and 42·5 % high exposure. McDonald's accounted for over 70 % of children's MSW ad exposure and consumption. Children's MSW consumption was significantly associated with their ad exposure, but not overall TV viewing time. After adjusting for demographics, socio-economic status and other screen time, moderate MSW ad exposure was associated with a 31 % (95 % CI 1·12, 1·53) increase and high MSW ad exposure with a 26 % (95 % CI 1·13, 1·41) increase in the likelihood of consuming MSW in the past week. Further adjustment for parent FF consumption did not change the findings substantially. Exposure to child-targeted FF TV advertising is positively associated with FF consumption among children of pre-school age, highlighting the vulnerability of young children to persuasive advertising and supporting recommendations to limit child-directed FF marketing.
ISSN:1368-9800
1475-2727
DOI:10.1017/S1368980017000520