title: Advertisements for children's entertainment products in a popular parenting magazine: sedentary or active?
abstract: Background:The purpose of this study was to describe advertisements of children's entertainment products in a popular magazine, Parents, and to determine if they illustrated behavior that was physically active or sedentary.Methods:The sample was comprised of Parents magazines (January 2010 to December 2015). Coding involved determining if the advertisement was promoting sedentary or active behavior.Results:Nearly all of the 169 advertisements in the sample (n = 166; 97.6%) were for products that depicted sedentary behavior. The most common types of entertainment products advertised were DVDs (n = 72), plastic stacking products (n = 18), books (n=14), and electronic devices (n = 13). The most popular theme that appeared in the advertisements was the entertainment product would enhance intelligence (n = 85; 50.3%, 95% CI: 0.43-0.58). The overwhelming majority (n = 136; 80.5%. 95% CI: 0.76-0.87) of the advertisements involved the presence of a character.Conclusion:This type of advertising does not contribute to the nation's goals of increasing physical activity among youth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ 07470, USA.
authors.forename: Corey H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Basch
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ 07470, USA.
authors.forename: Aleksandar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kecojevic
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ 07470, USA.
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cadorett
authors.affiliation: Health and Behavior Studies, Teachers College, Columbia University, NY, NY 10027, USA.
authors.forename: Charles E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Basch
keywords: Advertisements; Children; Entertainment products; Sedentary