title: Trends in the nutritional content of television food advertisements seen by children in the United States: analyses by age, food categories, and companies.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine trends in children's exposure to food-related advertising on television by age, product category, and company.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nutritional content analysis using television ratings data for 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2009 for children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Annual age-specific television ratings data captured children's exposure to broadcast network, cable network, syndicated, and spot television food advertising from all (except Spanish-language) programming.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children aged 2 to 5 and 6 to 11 years. Main Exposure  Television ratings.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children's exposure to food-related advertising on television with nutritional assessments for food and beverage products for grams of saturated fat, sugar, and fiber and milligrams of sodium.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children aged 2 to 5 and 6 to 11 years saw, respectively, on average, 10.9 and 12.7 food-related television advertisements daily in 2009, down 17.8% and 6.9% from 2003. Exposure to food and beverage products high in saturated fat, sugar, or sodium fell 37.9% and 27.7% but fast-food advertising exposure increased by 21.1% and 30.8% among 2- to 5- and 6- to 11-year-olds, respectively, between 2003 and 2009. In 2009, 86% of ads seen by children were for products high in saturated fat, sugar, or sodium, down from 94% in 2003.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Exposure to unhealthy food and beverage product advertisements has fallen, whereas exposure to fast-food ads increased from 2003 to 2009. By 2009, there was not a substantial improvement in the nutritional content of food and beverage advertisements that continued to be advertised and viewed on television by US children.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health Research and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1747 W Roosevelt Ave, Room 558, M/C 275, Chicago, IL 60608, USA. powelll@uic.edu
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Powell
authors.forename: Rebecca M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Schermbeck
authors.forename: Glen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Szczypka
authors.forename: Frank J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Chaloupka
authors.forename: Carol L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Braunschweig
mesh_terms: D000329:Advertising / Q000639:trends*; D001628:Beverages; D002241:Carbohydrates; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004043:Dietary Fiber; D005227:Fatty Acids; D005260:Female; D005502:Food; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009753:Nutritive Value; D012964:Sodium; D013690:Television; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D002241:Carbohydrates; D004043:Dietary Fiber; D005227:Fatty Acids; D012964:Sodium