title: Children's exposure to food advertising on free-to-air television: an Asia-Pacific perspective.
abstract: There is an established link between food promotions and children's food purchase and consumption. Children in developing countries may be more vulnerable to food promotions given the relative novelty of advertising in these markets. This study aimed to determine the scope of television food advertising to children across the Asia-Pacific to inform policies to restrict this marketing. Six sites were sampled, including from China, Indonesia, Malaysia and South Korea. At each site, 192 h of television were recorded (4 days, 16 h/day, three channels) from May to October 2012. Advertised foods were categorized as core/healthy, non-core/unhealthy or miscellaneous, and by product type. Twenty-seven percent of advertisements were for food/beverages, and the most frequently advertised product was sugar-sweetened drinks. Rates of non-core food advertising were highest during viewing times most popular with children, when between 3 (South Korea) and 15 (Indonesia) non-core food advertisements were broadcast each hour. Children in the Asia-Pacific are exposed to high volumes of unhealthy food/beverage television advertising. Different policy arrangements for food advertising are likely to contribute to regional variations in advertising patterns. Cities with the lowest advertising rates can be identified as exemplars of good policy practice.
authors.affiliation: Early Start Research Institute, School of Health and Society, University of Wollongong, Building 41, Northfields Ave, Wollongong NSW 2522, Australia.
authors.forename: Bridget
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.affiliation: Prevention Research Collaboration, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Lana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hebden
authors.affiliation: Prevention Research Collaboration, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Lesley
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: King
authors.affiliation: Early Start Research Institute, School of Health and Society, University of Wollongong, Building 41, Northfields Ave, Wollongong NSW 2522, Australia.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Gengsheng
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Liangli
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: College of Medicine, Xi'an Jiaotong University, China.
authors.forename: Lingxia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Alma Ata Centre for Healthy Life and Food, School of Health Sciences, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
authors.forename: Hamam
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hadi
authors.affiliation: School of Healthcare Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, National University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Tilakavati
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Karupaiah
authors.affiliation: School of Healthcare Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, National University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Ng See
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Hoe
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, MARA University of Technology, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Mohd Ismail
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Noor
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Nutrition, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jihyun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.affiliation: Department of Advertising and Public Relations, Dongguk University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Hyogyoo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000329:Advertising / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001210:Asia, Southeastern; D001628:Beverages; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003906:Developing Countries; D005502:Food; D006801:Humans; D013690:Television
keywords: advertising; food; marketing; television