IRANIAN TELEVISION ADVERTISEMENT AND CHILDREN’S FOOD PREFERENCES

摘要

Background: In this study, the nature of food commercials in children’s television (TV) wasmonitored and analyzed; simultaneously, the relationship between recalling TV food commercialsand children’s interest in them and in the consumption of the same food products was evaluated.Methods: A total of 108 h children’s programs broadcast on two channels (Two and Amouzesh) ofIslamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) media organization were monitored (May 6–12, 2015).Simultaneously, a cross?sectional study using 403 primary schoolchildren (201 boys) in fourschools of Shirvan, Northeast of Iran, was executed. The children were prompted to recall all TVcommercials broadcast on IRIB. Meanwhile, they were directed to define in the list of recalledTV food commercials those were interested in and the commercials (food products) they actuallywere willing to consume.Results: Regarding the frequency and duration of broadcasting, food commercials ranked fifthand sixth, respectively. Fruit leather and plum paste were the most frequently broadcast foodcommercials. “High quality” (19%), “good taste” (15%), “novelty, ” and “message on nutritionalcomposition” (13%) were the most frequent messages used in promoting the sale of foodproducts, respectively. In addition, focus on “high quality/precision in the preparation of the foodproducts” was the most frequently used appeals in TV commercials. There was a significantrelationship between recalling TV food commercials and the interest in five out of eight of thecommercials (62.5%) (P Conclusions: TV food commercials do not encourage healthy eating. The current study providesconvincing evidence for policy?makers and researchers to pay more attention to this area.