Health and nutrition in television advertising

The purpose of this study was to describe and compare the types of food and nutrition advertising claims made in commercials during the 9 AM to 4 PM television programming period. This was done for the three major American television networks for the years 1991, 1995 and 2001. The following sample size was used for each of the years: 1991 had 1,337 commercials, 1995 had 100 commercials, and 2001 had 100 commercials. An instrument was specifically designed to obtain frequencies for each year in the following categories: food advertising products based on food group classifications; nutrition claims, nutrition content, and health reference messages; and general descriptors.; Results for food group classification indicated that sweets were the most heavily advertised food item in all three years: 1991 (21%), 1994 (23%), and 2001 (32%). There was a big increase in mixed-dishes advertisements from 1991 to 2001, which could be due to increased consumption of easy to prepare foods. Fruits and vegetables had very little proportional change over the decade and while 15% of the 1991 fruit and vegetable advertisements were for fresh produce, none of the commercials in 1995 or 2001 were for fresh produce.; Results for nutrition claims indicated that "low or no fat" claims was the leading claim in all three years: 1991 (45%), 1995 (71%), and 2001 (33%). While claims for "high calcium" were very low in 1991 (3%)and 1995 (0%), they were very high in 2001 (33%).; Results of nutrition content claims indicated that while there was a slight rise in "sugarfree" nutrition content claims between 1991 (29%)and 1995 (33%), there were no references to sugarfree in the 2001 advertisements. References to the low calorie content of foods advertised steadily decreases from 1991 (33%) to 1995 (25%)and increased further in 2001 (16%). References to "containing vitamins" increased from 1991 (20%), to 1995 (33%), to 2001 (64%). In health references, "healthy for you" was the leading reference in all three years.; These findings are important to health educators, who must be aware of the types and accuracy of health statements that are advertised on television. It is also possible for health educators to use these messages as health education tools.