A content analysis of foods advertised to children on television

In the modern world, media is an ever increasing influence on life and television is an effective medium to communicate messaging; however, the messaging provided is not always healthful. This descriptive study determined the food advertising time during children's programming, and analyzed nutritional adequacy of food products featured. Over 75 hours of children's programming were recorded, with 10.1 hours of commercials, and only 1.125 hours for food products. For food products featured, their nutrition labels were compared to the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) of 1990 guidelines for healthy foods, and analyzed according to sugar content, fat, vitamins A, C, and fiber. Only 21.7% of the featured foods met NLEA guidelines for healthy foods, consistent with previous studies examining the nutritional value of foods advertised during children's programming and finding the majority of foods advertised were not healthy.