ABSTRACT. Background. Early sexual initiation is an important social and health issue. A recent survey suggested that most sexually experienced teens wish they had waited longer to have intercourse; other data indicate that unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases are more common among those who begin sexual activity earlier. The American Academy of Pediatrics has suggested that portrayals of sex on entertainment television (TV) may contribute to precocious adolescent sex. Approximately two-thirds of TV programs contain sexual content. However, empirical data examining the relationships between exposure to sex on TV and adolescent sexual behaviors are rare and inadequate for addressing the issue of causal effects.Design and Participants. We conducted a national longitudinal survey of 1792 adolescents, 12 to 17 years of age. In baseline and 1-year follow-up interviews, participants reported their TV viewing habits and sexual experience and responded to measures of more than a dozen factors known to be associated with adolescent sexual initiation. TV viewing data were combined with the results of a scientific analysis of TV sexual content to derive measures of exposure to sexual content, depictions of sexual risks or safety, and depictions of sexual behavior (versus talk about sex but no behavior).Outcome Measures. Initiation of intercourse and advancement in noncoital sexual activity level, during a 1-year period.Results. Multivariate regression analysis indicated that adolescents who viewed more sexual content at baseline were more likely to initiate intercourse and progress to more advanced noncoital sexual activities during the subsequent year, controlling for respondent characteristics that might otherwise explain these relationships. The size of the adjusted intercourse effect was such that youths in the 90th percentile of TV sex viewing had a predicted probability of intercourse initiation that was approximately double that of youths in the 10th percentile, for all ages studied. Exposure to TV that included only talk about sex was associated with the same risks as exposure to TV that depicted sexual behavior. African American youths who watched more depictions of sexual risks or safety were less likely to initiate intercourse in the subsequent year.Conclusions. Watching sex on TV predicts and may hasten adolescent sexual initiation. Reducing the amount of sexual content in entertainment programming, reducing adolescent exposure to this content, or increasing references to and depictions of possible negative consequences of sexual activity could appreciably delay the initiation of coital and noncoital activities. Alternatively, parents may be able to reduce the effects of sexual content by watching TV with their teenaged children and discussing their own beliefs about sex and the behaviors portrayed. Pediatricians should encourage these family discussions. Pediatrics 2004;114:e280 -e289. URL: http: //www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/114/3/e280; condoms, media, sex, television.ABBREVIATIONS....

Much has changed in television since the 1970s, when most studies examining the content of advertising to children were conducted. A n altered regulato y climate and changes in the industy structure (e.g., growth of cable and irzdependent stations) suggest the need to reexamine the characteristics of such messages. mis study assessed the nature and number of commercials during children ' . s programs on three diflerent types of channels: broadcast networks, independent stations, and cable networks. Clear patterns of dijferences were found ucross the various channel types. 7be broadcast nelworks provided the greatest amount of advertising; cable presented signzjicantly less. Independent stations captured the largest share of to-y ads. Cable presented the widest range ofproducts advertised, including such new categories as recorded telephone messages targeting children. 'fie study also examined the themes/appeal.s emplo-yed in the commercials, disclosures/disclaimers used, and other content attributes qf the advertising.

Previous content analyses of sex on television have relied on differing measures and sampling strategies, which makes it difficult to compare patterns of sexual portrayals over time. This large-scale study (N = 2,817 programs) examines the sexual messages presented on television across both broadcast and cable channels over a 5-year period, applying identical measures to three biennial samples of program content. Results demonstrate that sexual talk and behavior are highly frequent aspects of the television environment. Talk about sex is shown more often than sexual behavior, though both types of content increased significantly from 1997/1998 to 2001/2002. Over that time span, the percentage of shows portraying sexual intercourse doubled from 7 to 14%. Results also show that topics related to sexual risks or responsibilities (e.g., condom use, abstinence) are increasingly included on television, but nonetheless remain infrequent overall. Such safe sex messages occur most frequently in program environments where they are most relevant (i.e., when sexual intercourse is included in the story). The content analysis findings are discussed in terms of their implications for audience effects.

The rise in the number of overweight and obese children in the United States is recognized as a serious health threat. Among the factors contributing to this increase is the preponderance of food marketing on television targeted at children. Previous content analysis studies have identified patterns of food product types that are commonly associated with unhealthy diets, but few have attempted to independently evaluate the nutritional quality of advertised foods. This study identifies the nature and extent of food marketing messages presented during children's television programs, while also classifying the products advertised using a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services consumer food rating scheme. The findings indicate that food advertising accounts for nearly half of all commercial messages on children's programs. An average hour includes 11 food ads that account for 4:25 of total ad time. Broadcast channels deliver more food advertising than cable channels, although the types of food products marketed on both channels are highly similar. The overwhelming majority of foods ads directed to children are for high-calorie, low nutrient food products that should not be part of a regular diet. These data provide a baseline for evaluating anticipated future industry efforts at reform, such as attempts to comply with a recent Institute of Medicine (2006) policy recommendation that food marketing to children should be balanced between more healthy and less healthy food products within two years time.

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This study investigates the nature and extent of violence contained in television programming that targets children aged 12 and younger. The measures employed in this content analysis are grounded in previous experimental research that has identified contextual features that either diminish or enhance the risk of harmful effects associated with viewing violent portrayals. This report uses the database from the National Television Violence Study , which involved an unusually large and representative sample of programming. Results indicate that programs targeted to children contain more violence than do other types of programming. The violence itself is just as likely to be glamorized in children's as in nonchildren's shows, but it is even more sanitized and more likely to be trivialized. These patterns heighten the risk of viewers learning aggression and becoming desensitized from such portrayals. Finally, this study documents 5 subgenres of children's programming that differ dramatically in violent content.

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This paper reviews research on young children's responses to television commercials in the context of the history of attempts to regulate television advertising directed to children. Concern with regulation emerged in the 1960s, when children were recognized as a market in their own right. The few available and relevant empirical studies played a clear role in shaping early Federal Communications Commission (1 974) policy. Subsequent research demonstrated that young children have diflculty distinguishing between programs and commercials, that most manifest little or no understanding of commercials' persuasive intent, and that those who do not understand persuasive intent are highly vulnerable to commercial claims and appeals. These findings led the Federal Trade Commission (1978) to attempt to ban television advertising to children too young to understand persuasive intent. However, the history of regulatory attempts demonstrates that research findings are not a dominant influence on policy decisions. Rather, policy is a result of competing value orientations (e.g., protection of the marketplace or protection of the child) and the political maneuvering they engender.Television brought children what is often described as an "early window" on the world (Liebert & Spraflcin, 1988). Prior to television, the opportunity to see remote geographic regions, different cultural practices, and different people around the globe typically did not occur in early childhood. This rich medium