|
Article Excerpt
Over the last 30 years, the percentage of U.S. children classified as overweight and obese has more than tripled (Anderson and Butcher, 2006; Centers for Disease Control, 2004). The American Academy of Pediatrics notes similar increases in medical complications due to childhood obesity, including Type 2 diabetes, respiratory illness, hypertension, sleep disorders, and depression (Brown, Sibille, Phelps, and McFarlane, 2002). Anderson and Butcher (2006) identified a set of complementary factors contributing to childhood obesity. Most factors were individual in nature, including genetics, reduced rates of physical activity, and increased consumption of high-calorie, low-nutrition foods and beverages (particularly soft drinks). Further, the review noted that the manufactured food industry has witnessed wholesale change since the 1970s (for example, an increased marketing and consumption of convenience foods such as frozen entrees).
This trend spawned a debate about the role that media play in childhood obesity. Most of the concern about the TV-obesity link is based on correlational data. The average child spends over 5 hours a day with media (Roberts and Foehr, 2004), which has caused concern that sedentary media use constitutes a long-term obesity risk (Viner and Cole, 2005). Researchers (Taros and Gage, 1995) also noted an increase in the number of ads in children's media, particularly television. Separate reports (Domestic Advertising, 2003, 2006; Harris, Kaufman, Martinez, and Price, 2002) have noted better than 20% increases in total U.S. food advertising spending from 1995 to 1999 and from 2002 to 2005. Over those periods, 65-70% of spending was devoted to television. Anderson and Butcher (2006) noted that significant increases in childhood obesity rates correspond to the proliferation of advertising-supported, cable television channels during the 1990s.
Food advertising's direct influence on children's diets is a part of this debate. Two reviews (Carter, 2006; Hastings et al., 2003) concluded that television ads were a probable, albeit small, influence on children's food preferences. Recent evidence has suggested direct correlations between food advertising and children's purchase requests (Borzekowski and Robinson, 2001; O'Dougherty, Story, and Stang, 2006) and overall nutritional intake (Vereecken, Todd, Roberts, Mulvihill, & Maes, 2006). One study (Lobstein & Dibb, 2005) found a strong correlation between the amount of advertising (especially for "empty calorie" foods) and the proportion of over-weight children in 10 countries, including the United States.
These numbers have generated considerable policy attention. Recent calls for investigations of food marketing's (particularly television advertising) influence on children's diets (Burros, 2005) have intensified this debate. Advertisers and television networks responded in 2005 when companies such as Kraft and McDonald's announced plans to stop marketing unhealthy foods to children under age 11 (Romano & Becker, 2005). The Nickelodeon cable network also announced plans to devote a percentage of program time to healthier eating and exercise. Given this context, this study presents a content analysis of 2006 food and beverage advertising on U.S. television networks with potentially large child audiences. An examination of persuasive appeals and production techniques, particularly those suggested by child development theories, will provide information about the food advertising landscape that children confront.
Advertised Products
Food products have constituted a large portion of TV advertising, accounting for as much as half of all child-targeted advertising (Harrison & Marske, 2005; Kunkel & Gantz, 1992). Previous content analyses have indicated a consistent group of products that dominate food advertising. Foremost among these are fast- food restaurants (Byrd-Bredbenner & Grasso, 1999; Harrison & Marske, 2005), sweetened cereals (Connor, 2006; Kunkel & Gantz, 1992; Lewis & Hill, 1998), and sweetened/soft drinks (Henderson & Kelly, 2005). In those studies, cereal ads accounted for as much as half of all food commercials, whereas fast-food ads comprised as much as one third. Together, these products represented the majority of television food advertising on children's programming (Center for Science in the Public Interest, 2003).
By contrast, these studies also point to the low number of commercials for "healthy" food products (e.g., fruits, vegetables, milk). Three content analyses (Harrison & Marske, 2005; Kotz & Story, 1994; Kunkel & Gantz, 1992) determined that fewer than 5% of all food commercials were for healthy foods. Byrd-Bredbenner and Grasso (1999) found that fats, oils, and sweets were advertised almost four times as much as the USDA's recommended proportion of such foods in a healthy diet. Dairy, fruit, and vegetable products were 20% percent of food commercials, though the USDA recommends that they comprise the majority of a healthy diet. Harrison and Marske (2005) concluded that a diet composed of advertised foods would exceed recommended nutritional levels of saturated fat, sodium, and sugar; the same foods would provide less than 10% of the recommended daily minimum of essential vitamins and minerals.
Children's Processing of Television Advertisements
The importance of these content analyses emerges when one considers children's interpretive strategies with television content. Developmental psychology theories are helpful in identifying the audio/visual cues that heighten children's attention and comprehension of advertising. However, effects research indicates that some of these cues can mislead child viewers.
Much of the research about advertising's effects on children has been conducted within stage-based theories of child development, principally Piaget's (1970) cognitive development theory. This theory holds that child development starts with the acquisition of sensory-motor skills and is driven by direct experience. As children grow and interact with their environment, they gradually acquire logical and abstract reasoning skills. Cognitive development is then driven by children's failures to understand and act on their environment. Adapting to such failures is a matter of learning to think abstractly about matters beyond a child's direct experience.
Within a Piagetian framework, two cognitive processing concepts are important to understanding the content of food advertising. The first is young children's propensity for sensory-based processing. Until about the age of 7, children adopt cognitive processing strategies that center on their immediate sensory environment. Hence, young children are more attentive to salient perceptual cues such...
|
