Marketing fat and sugar to children on New Zealand television.

BACKGROUND

We aimed to determine the frequency and content of television food advertisements during children's viewing times on various New Zealand television channels.

METHODS

A content analysis was conducted of two free-to-air channels covering a total of 155 h of television time during children's viewing times (n = 858 food advertisements in 2005). Comparisons were made with data from 1997 and data from Australia.

RESULTS

Compared to Australian channels, both New Zealand channels (TV3 and TV2) had significantly higher proportions of food advertisements that were classified as being "high in fat and/or sugar" (54% versus 80% and 69%, respectively). Using a more detailed classification system, 70.3% of food advertisements on the New Zealand channels were for foods "counter to improved nutrition" (95% CI: 67.1%, 73.3%) compared to those "favoring improved nutrition" at 5.1% (95% CI: 3.8%, 6.9%). The number of food advertisements per hour was higher in 2005 than in 1997 for the channel (TV2) for which there was time trend data (12.8 versus 8.0 per hour for the afternoon time slot).

CONCLUSIONS

These findings provide further evidence that the majority of food advertising on New Zealand television is counter to nutritional guidelines. They suggest the need for further regulatory or other controls.