Reading the mind of children in response to food advertising: a cross-sectional study of Malaysian schoolchildren’s attitudes towards food and beverages advertising on television

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Abstract

Background

Television food advertising (TVFA) is the most dominant medium in the obesogenic environment promoting unhealthy food choices in children.

Methods

This cross-sectional study investigated children’s attitudes towards TVFA by examining four well-cited induction factors namely advertisement recognition, favourite advertisement, purchase request, and product preference. Malaysian urban schoolchildren (7 to 12 years) of equal ethnic distribution were voluntarily recruited ( n = 402). Questionnaire administration was facilitated using a food album of 24 advertised food products.

Results

Majority of children were older (66.2 %), girls (56.7 %) with one-third either overweight or obese. TV viewing time for weekend was greater than weekdays (4.77 ± 2.60 vs 2.35 ± 1.40 h/day) and Malay children spent more time watching TV compared to Chinese ( p < 0.001) and Indian ( p < 0.05) children. Chinese children spent significantly more time surfing the internet compared to either Malay or Indian ( p < 0.01). Median score trend was advertisement recognition > favourite advertisement and product preference > purchase request, and significantly greater ( p < 0.001) for non-core than core food advertisements. TV viewing time and ethnicity significantly influenced all induction factors for non-core foods. After correcting for all influencing factors, ‘favourite advertisement’ (IRR _{final adj}: 1.06; 95 % CI: 1.04 to 1.08), ‘purchase request’ (IRR _{final adj}: 1.06; 95 % CI: 1.04 to 1.08) and ‘product preference’ (IRR _{final adj}: 1.04; 95 % CI: 1.02 to 1.07) still were significantly associated with TV viewing time. For every additional hour of TV viewing, the incidence rates increased significantly by 1.04 to 1.06 for ‘favourite advertisement’, ‘purchase request’ and ‘product preference’ related to non-core foods amongst Malay and Indian children. However, Chinese children only demonstrated a significant association between TV viewing time and ‘favourite advertisement’ (IRR _adj: 1.06; 95 % CI: 1.01 to 1.10).

Conclusion

This study highlights TVFA as a powerful medium predisposing the mind of children to non-core foods through appealing TV commercials, promoting purchase request and generating unhealthy food preferences in early childhood.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-2392-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Most cited references 45

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Global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013.

Marie Ng, Tom Fleming, Margaret W. Robinson … (2015)

In 2010, overweight and obesity were estimated to cause 3·4 million deaths, 3·9% of years of life lost, and 3·8% of disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) worldwide. The rise in obesity has led to widespread calls for regular monitoring of changes in overweight and obesity prevalence in all populations. Comparable, up-to-date information about levels and trends is essential to quantify population health effects and to prompt decision makers to prioritise action. We estimate the global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980-2013. We systematically identified surveys, reports, and published studies (n=1769) that included data for height and weight, both through physical measurements and self-reports. We used mixed effects linear regression to correct for bias in self-reports. We obtained data for prevalence of obesity and overweight by age, sex, country, and year (n=19,244) with a spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression model to estimate prevalence with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). Worldwide, the proportion of adults with a body-mass index (BMI) of 25 kg/m(2) or greater increased between 1980 and 2013 from 28·8% (95% UI 28·4-29·3) to 36·9% (36·3-37·4) in men, and from 29·8% (29·3-30·2) to 38·0% (37·5-38·5) in women. Prevalence has increased substantially in children and adolescents in developed countries; 23·8% (22·9-24·7) of boys and 22·6% (21·7-23·6) of girls were overweight or obese in 2013. The prevalence of overweight and obesity has also increased in children and adolescents in developing countries, from 8·1% (7·7-8·6) to 12·9% (12·3-13·5) in 2013 for boys and from 8·4% (8·1-8·8) to 13·4% (13·0-13·9) in girls. In adults, estimated prevalence of obesity exceeded 50% in men in Tonga and in women in Kuwait, Kiribati, Federated States of Micronesia, Libya, Qatar, Tonga, and Samoa. Since 2006, the increase in adult obesity in developed countries has slowed down. Because of the established health risks and substantial increases in prevalence, obesity has become a major global health challenge. Not only is obesity increasing, but no national success stories have been reported in the past 33 years. Urgent global action and leadership is needed to help countries to more effectively intervene. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Television food advertising to children: a global perspective.

Lise Berg, Martin K. Keller, Evangelia Grammatikaki … (2010)

We compared television food advertising to children in several countries. We undertook a collaboration among 13 research groups in Australia, Asia, Western Europe, and North and South America. Each group recorded programming for 2 weekdays and 2 weekend days between 6:00 and 22:00, for the 3 channels most watched by children, between October 2007 and March 2008. We classified food advertisements as core (nutrient dense, low in energy), noncore (high in undesirable nutrients or energy, as defined by dietary standards), or miscellaneous. We also categorized thematic content (promotional characters and premiums). Food advertisements composed 11% to 29% of advertisements. Noncore foods were featured in 53% to 87% of food advertisements, and the rate of noncore food advertising was higher during children's peak viewing times. Most food advertisements containing persuasive marketing were for noncore products. Across all sampled countries, children were exposed to high volumes of television advertising for unhealthy foods, featuring child-oriented persuasive techniques. Because of the proven connections between food advertising, preferences, and consumption, our findings lend support to calls for regulation of food advertising during children's peak viewing times.

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Avocado consumption is associated with better diet quality and nutrient intake, and lower metabolic syndrome risk in US adults: results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001–2008

Victor L. Fulgoni, Mark Dreher, Adrienne J. Davenport (2013)

Background Avocados contain monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) dietary fiber, essential nutrients and phytochemicals. However, no epidemiologic data exist on their effects on diet quality, weight management and other metabolic disease risk factors. The objective of this research was to investigate the relationships between avocado consumption and overall diet quality, energy and nutrient intakes, physiological indicators of health, and risk of metabolic syndrome. Methods Avocado consumption and nutrition data were based on 24-hour dietary recalls collected by trained NHANES interviewers using the USDA Automated Multiple Pass Method (AMPM). Physiological data were collected from physical examinations conducted in NHANES Mobile Examination Centers. Diet quality was calculated using the USDA’s Healthy Eating Index-2005. Subjects included 17,567 US adults ≥ 19 years of age (49% female), including 347 avocado consumers (50% female), examined in NHANES 2001–2008. Least square means, standard errors, and ANOVA were determined using appropriate sample weights, with adjustments for age, gender, ethnicity, and other covariates depending on dependent variable of interest. Results Avocado consumers had significantly higher intakes of vegetables (p < 0.05); fruit, diet quality, total fat, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, dietary fiber, vitamins E, K, magnesium, and potassium (p < 0.0001); vitamin K (p = 0.0013); and lower intakes of added sugars (p < 0.0001). No significant differences were seen in calorie or sodium intakes. Body weight, BMI, and waist circumference were significantly lower (p < 0.01), and HDL-C was higher (p < 0.01) in avocado consumers. The odds ratio for metabolic syndrome was 50% (95th CI: 0.32-0.72) lower in avocado consumers vs. non-consumers. Conclusions Avocado consumption is associated with improved overall diet quality, nutrient intake, and reduced risk of metabolic syndrome. Dietitians should be aware of the beneficial associations between avocado intake, diet and health when making dietary recommendations.

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Author and article information

Contributors

See Hoe Ng: seehoe88@gmail.com

Bridget Kelly: bkelly@uow.edu.au

Chee Hee Se: jeremysch3232@gmail.com

Sharmela Sahathevan: sham_0901@yahoo.com

Karuthan Chinna: karuthan@gmail.com

Mohd Noor Ismail: ismailnoor49@gmail.com

Tilakavati Karupaiah: tilly_karu@yahoo.co.uk , tilly@ukm.edu.my

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): BMC Public Health

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): BMC Public Health

Title: BMC Public Health

Publisher: BioMed Central (London )

ISSN (Electronic): 1471-2458

Publication date (Electronic): 12 October 2015

Publication date PMC-release: 12 October 2015

Publication date Collection: 2015

Volume: 15

Electronic Location Identifier: 1047

Affiliations

[ ]Dietetics Programme, School of Healthcare Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, National University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

[ ]Early Start Research Institute, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW Australia

[ ]Julius Centre University Malaya, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

[ ]School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts, Taylor’s University, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

Article

Publisher ID: 2392

DOI: 10.1186/s12889-015-2392-z

PMC ID: 4603941

PubMed ID: 26459341

SO-VID: 4e9e5888-c136-4b03-9f50-cbf213b443e3

License:

Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

History

Date received : 19 March 2015

Date accepted : 7 October 2015

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ScienceOpen disciplines: Public health

Keywords: television food advertising,advertisement recognition,favourite advertisement,purchase request,product preference,obesogenic environment,appealing food advertisement

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ScienceOpen disciplines: Public health

Keywords: television food advertising, advertisement recognition, favourite advertisement, purchase request, product preference, obesogenic environment, appealing food advertisement

Reading the mind of children in response to food advertising: a cross-sectional study of Malaysian schoolchildren’s attitudes towards food and beverages advertising on television

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Chinese Journal of School Health

Most cited references 45

Global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013.

Television food advertising to children: a global perspective.

Avocado consumption is associated with better diet quality and nutrient intake, and lower metabolic syndrome risk in US adults: results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001–2008

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