| This paper presents the findings of a study that compared the nutritional content of food advertisements in magazines the US and in France, and in magazines targeting different audiences. The purpose of the study was to assess whether certain audiences suffered from a disproportionate exposure to unhealthy food marketing. The study found that US magazines had an overall higher mean proportion of less healthy food advertisements, but this difference was small in magnitude and statistically insignificant. The difference was more pronounced and statistically significant when restricting the sample to adult magazines: 60% in the US versus 41% in France (T-test p-value = 0.071). Further, US magazines were more likely to contain at least one less healthy food advertisement than French magazines (58.82% versus 28.57%, Fischer's Exact p-value = 0.092). US magazines were also more likely to have 50% or more of food advertisements classified as less healthy (76.92% versus 25.00%, p-value = 0.099). In the US, magazines targeting racial/ethnic minorities have higher proportions of less healthy food advertisements than their White or general counterparts. Hispanic-oriented magazines had especially high proportions of less healthy food advertisements: 83% compared to 65% in Black magazines, 38% in White magazines and 37% in general magazines (p-value = 0.096). These race-based differences do not exist among the French magazines in the study sample, which contained no Hispanic magazines, and in which the Black magazines contained no less healthy food advertisements. In both France and the US, magazines targeting children and teenagers contain no unhealthy food advertisements, and children's magazines contain no food advertisements at all. This paper also puts discusses this study's limitations and public health implications. |
