Elsevier

Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior

Volume 43, Issue 6, November–December 2011, Pages 441-448
Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior

Research Article
Adolescent Weight Status and Receptivity to Food TV Advertisements

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2010.08.002Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective

This study examined the relationship between adolescent weight status and food advertisement receptivity.

Design

Survey-based evaluation with data collected at baseline (initial and at 2 months), and at follow-up (11 months).

Setting

New Hampshire and Vermont.

Participants

Students (n = 2,281) aged 10-13 in 2002-2005.

Main Outcome Measure

Overweight.

Analysis

Generalized estimating equations to model the relationship between identifying a food advertisement as their favorite and being overweight.

Results

Overall, 35.9% of the adolescents were overweight. Less than one fifth named a food advertisement as their favorite (16.1%). Most of the food advertisements were for less-healthful food (89.6%). After controlling for school, age, sex, sociodemographics, physical activity, number of TV sessions watched, and having a TV in the bedroom, overweight adolescents were significantly less likely to be receptive to food advertisements (relative risk = 0.83, 95% confidence interval 0.70, 0.98) compared to non-overweight adolescents.

Conclusions and Implications

This study provides preliminary evidence that normal-weight adolescents are receptive to unhealthful food advertisements. Longitudinal studies are needed to evaluate whether consistent exposure to advertisements for unhealthful food, particularly if they are promoted with healthful behaviors such as being physically active, influence adolescents’ food choices, and ultimately their body mass index, over the long term.

Introduction

Food advertisements make up a large proportion of television (TV) advertisements, accounting for 23% to 57% of all TV commercials, depending on the time of day and the channel.1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Content analyses of food advertisements reveal that most TV advertisements are for food items of minimal nutritional value.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 Prior studies indicate that food advertisements are highly prevalent during child-targeted programming,2, 4, 5, 9 which suggests that children may be highly exposed to TV advertising involving food of minimal nutritional value. The Institute of Medicine has recommended that TV food advertisements targeted to youth include a greater proportion of healthful food.12

Several studies have demonstrated a link between TV food advertisements and child food-related behavior, including increased requests, preferences, selection, and/or consumption of advertised food.13, 14, 15, 16 Overall TV viewing time has been associated with increased caloric intake,17 decreased diet quality,18, 19 and child adiposity.12 One study estimated the hypothetical impact of a ban on food TV advertising on childhood obesity based on the assumption that exposure to food advertisements is associated with the risk of obesity.20 However, no previous studies have assessed whether TV food advertisements influence the risk of obesity in children.

Applied advertising research has historically applied the following 3 steps associated with the communication/persuasion process: (1) exposure to the advertisement; (2) attending to the advertisement; and (3) liking the advertisement.21 Therefore, having a preference for a specific advertisement (having a “favorite”) could be considered a measure of receptivity. Behavioral research studies have applied this paradigm to determine adolescent receptivity to health risk behaviors such as tobacco22, 23 and alcohol.24 These studies have demonstrated a clear link between receptivity to tobacco advertisements and smoking initiation22, 23 and alcohol advertisements and alcohol use.24

Reasoning that because most food TV advertisements are for food of minimal nutritional value, and that because adolescent preferences for food advertisements over non-food advertisements could be considered an indicator of receptivity to food advertising, the hypothesis was that adolescent receptivity to food advertisements would be a predictor of adolescent overweight.

Section snippets

Participants and Recruitment

The data for the current study are from a longitudinal study investigating the association between parenting factors, movie viewing, and health behaviors in adolescents. The questionnaire data were collected through a baseline survey and a follow-up survey. The baseline survey included 2 components: (1) an in-school, self-administered, written survey completed by the student and (2) a telephone survey completed by the student and 1 parent. The follow-up telephone survey was completed by the

Food Advertisement Receptivity

Of the 2,281 adolescents, 1,601 (70.2%) named some type of advertisement. Less than one fifth named a food advertisement as their favorite (16.1%, n = 367). Most of the food advertisements were for less-healthful food (89.6%, n = 329 of 367 advertisements) (Table 1). The most common food brands named were McDonald’s (n = 32), Pepsi (n = 29), and Budweiser/Bud Light (n = 28).

Adolescents were more likely to name a food advertisement if they were older, if their families had a higher household

Discussion

Not surprisingly, the types of food advertisements that adolescents mentioned were predominantly for less-healthful food products. However, only a minority of adolescents named a food advertisement as their favorite. Contrary to what was predicted, adolescents who were receptive to food advertisements were less likely, rather than more likely, to be overweight.

There are several possible explanations for finding an inverse association between food advertising receptivity and overweight. Perhaps

Implications for Research and Practice

Attracting non-overweight adolescents to food advertisements is an ideal strategy for advertisers, because compared to their overweight peers, non-overweight adolescents are probably consuming more healthful food.48, 49, 50 A parallel strategy is cigarette advertising that entices nonsmokers to begin smoking.22 Although the authors did not conduct a detailed content analysis of the food advertisements mentioned by the adolescents, some adolescents described physical activity themes in the

Acknowledgments

This study was funded by grants from the National Cancer Institute (CA-94273 and CA-108918). Dr. Adachi-Mejia was supported in part through a New Connections grant from the Healthy Eating Research program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Healthy Eating Research ID 63147). The funding agencies did not play a role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; nor in the preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript. Thank you

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    Dr. Sutherland reports a potential conflict of interest regarding products discussed in this article. She currently works for Kellogg's but had no affiliation with them at the time of the study.

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