title: Child-targeted TV advertising and preschoolers' consumption of high-sugar breakfast cereals.
abstract: Breakfast cereals represent the most highly advertised packaged food on child-targeted television, and most ads are for cereals high in sugar. This study examined whether children's TV exposure to child-targeted, high-sugar breakfast cereal (SBC) ads was associated with their consumption of those SBC brands. Parents of 3- to 5-year-old children were recruited from pediatric and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) clinics in Southern New Hampshire, USA, and completed a cross-sectional survey between April-December 2013. Parents reported their child's consumption of SBC brands; whether their child had watched any of 11 kids' channels in the past week; their child's TV viewing time; and socio-demographics. Children's exposure to child-targeted SBC TV ads was calculated by combining TV channel and viewing time with advertising data for SBC ads aired on kids' TV channels during the same timeframe. Five hundred forty-eight parents completed surveys; 52.7% had an annual household income of $50,000 or less. Children's mean age was 4.4 years, 51.6% were female, and 72.5% were non-Hispanic white. In the past week, 56.9% (N = 312) of children ate SBCs advertised on kids' channels. Overall, 40.6% of children were exposed to child-targeted SBC TV ads in the past week. In fully adjusted analyses, the number of SBC brands children consumed was positively associated with their exposure to child-targeted SBC ads. Children consumed 14% (RR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.27) more SBC brands for every 10 SBC ads seen in the past 7 days. Exposure to child-targeted SBC TV advertising is positively associated with SBC brand consumption among preschool-aged children. These findings support recommendations to limit the marketing of high-sugar foods to young children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA. Electronic address: Meghan.Longacre@Dartmouth.Edu.
authors.forename: Meghan R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Longacre
authors.affiliation: Greylock McKinnon Associates, Cambridge, MA, USA; The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA.
authors.forename: Keith M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Drake
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA; The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA.
authors.forename: Linda J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Titus
authors.affiliation: Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA.
authors.forename: Lauren P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Cleveland
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA.
authors.forename: Gail
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Langeloh
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA.
authors.forename: Kristy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hendricks
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA; The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA; Department of Community and Family Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA.
authors.forename: Madeline A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Dalton
mesh_terms: D000553:Ambulatory Care; D062408:Breakfast; D002652:Child Behavior; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D000073417:Dietary Sugars / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D002523:Edible Grain / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000737:chemistry / Q000191:economics; D057140:Fast Foods / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis / Q000191:economics; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D063105:Food Assistance; D005518:Food Preferences; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009513:New Hampshire; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D010290:Parents; D057566:Self Report; D013690:Television / Q000191:economics
chemical_list: D000073417:Dietary Sugars
keywords: Cereal consumption; Children; Food marketing; High-sugar breakfast cereal; Television