Kaiser Releases Study on Youth-Targeted TV Food Advertising

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 29: As debates continue on the topic of childhood obesity, a new study on TV food advertising released by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that TV shows specifically designed for children under 12 have the highest proportion of food advertising—50 percent of ad time—and that 34 percent of all food ads on TV targeting children or teens are for candy and snacks.

The study, Food for Thought: Television Food Advertising to Children in the United States, is the largest study ever conducted of TV food advertising to children. Combining content analysis of TV ads with detailed data about children’s viewing habits to provide an estimate of the number and type of TV ads seen by children of various ages, the study found that for each age group studied, food was the top product seen advertised. Tweens aged 8-12 see the most food ads on TV, an average of 21 ads a day, or more than 7,600 a year. Teenagers see slightly fewer ads, at 17 a day, for a total of more than 6,000 a year. Children aged 2-7 see the least number of food ads, at 12 food ads a day, or 4,400 a year.

However, of the 8,854 ads reviewed in the study, there were none for fruits or vegetables targeting children or teens. Of all the food ads in the study that target children or teens, 34 percent were for candy and snacks, 28 percent were for cereal, and 10 percent were for fast foods. Four percent are for dairy products and 1 percent for fruit juices.

On the methods employed to advertise food, one in five (20 percent) food ads targeting children or teens include a push to a website, and a similar proportion (19 percent) include the offer of a premium, such as a game or toy. About one in ten (11 percent) have a tie-in to a children’s TV or movie character. Only fifteen percent of all food ads targeting children or teens include depictions of a physically active lifestyle, such as showing children skateboarding, snowboarding, or playing basketball. In terms of children’s exposure to public service messages on fitness or nutrition (whether donated or paid), children aged 2-7 and 8-12 see an average of one such message every 2-3 days (164 a year for 2-7 year-olds and 158 a year for 8-12 year-olds). Teens 13-17 see just one such message per week, for an average of 47 per year.

“Children of all ages see thousands of food ads a year, but tweens see more than any other age group,” said Vicky Rideout, the VP and director of the Program for the Study of Entertainment Media and Health at the Kaiser Family Foundation. “Since tweens are at an age where they’re just becoming independent consumers, understanding what type of advertising they are exposed to is especially important.”