Television advertising of foodstuffs potentially detrimental to oral health--a content analysis and comparison of children's and primetime broadcasts.
OBJECTIVE
The study aimed to examine the nature, content and duration of advertisements broadcast during children's television; determine the proportion of advertisements promoting food; identify the potential of the food advertised to be detrimental to oral health; and to compare the nature and content of advertisements aimed at children with those transmitted during evening 'primetime' television.


METHODS
Children's and primetime television, broadcast on a main independent terrestrial channel in South Wales were video recorded, 237 and 42 hours being analysed in total.


RESULTS
Analysis of the recording resulted in a total of 3,236 commercials, of which 2,345 were broadcast during children's television and 891 in primetime. During children's TV, 62.5% of advertising time was devoted to foodstuffs, significantly greater (P< 0.001) than the 18.4% of time spent advertising foods during primetime. Of the time spent advertising foods, during children's television 73.4% was devoted to products deemed potentially detrimental to oral health (primarily high in sugar), compared to 18.6% similarly categorised during evening television.


CONCLUSIONS
Commercials for products which have the potential to adversely affect oral health constitute a large proportion of advertising time during children's television. Current codes of the Independent Television Commission governing advertising directed at children should be reviewed.
Chestnutt
I G
IG
Dental Public Health Unit, University of Wales College of Medicine, Dental School, Cardiff, UK. chestnuttig@cardiff.ac.uk
Ashraf
F J
FJ
D000329:Advertising; D001628:Beverages; D002182:Candy; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D003611:Dairy Products; D019422:Dietary Sucrose / Q000009:adverse effects; D002523:Edible Grain; D005502:Food; D006801:Humans; D009909:Oral Health; D013690:Television; D013997:Time Factors; D014076:Tooth Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D014743:Videotape Recording; D014852:Wales
D019422:Dietary Sucrose