Association between food marketing exposure and adolescents’ food choices and eating behaviors

Abstract

The present study examined associations between food marketing exposure and adolescents' food choices and reported consumption of energy-dense and nutrient-poor (EDNP) foods. A cross-sectional survey of 12,188 Australian secondary students aged 12-17 years was conducted, using a web-based self-report questionnaire. Measures included students' level of exposure to commercial television and non-broadcast types of food marketing, whether they had tried a new product or requested a product they had seen advertised, and their reported consumption of fast food, sugary drinks and sweet and salty snacks. Results indicated greater exposure to commercial television, print/transport/school food marketing and digital food marketing were all independently associated with students' food choices. High commercial television viewers (>2h/day) were more likely to report higher consumption of EDNP foods (ORs ranged from 1.31 for fast food to 1.91 for sweet snacks). Some associations between digital food marketing exposure and students' eating behaviors were found; however, print/transport/school food marketing was only related to sweet snack consumption. These study results suggest that cumulative exposure to television food advertising and other food marketing sources are positively linked to adolescents' food choices and eating behaviors. Policy changes to restrict food marketing to young people should include both television and non-broadcast media.

The Impact of Marketing and Advertising on Food Behaviours: Evaluating the Evidence for a Causal Relationship

“…As such, the strength of the association would have been attenuated. Similar trends were seen in the following studies when children self-reported exposure to food marketing (either on TV, print, on public transport, at school or digitally) and their usual food intake and/or purchase requests for promoted products [47][48][49].…”

“…This pattern was further shown in another Australian study (n=12,188, 12-17 years) [49]. As children's exposure to both commercial TV and non-broadcast advertising increased so too did their intakes of commonly advertised foods or likelihood of requesting or trying advertised foods (all p<0.001).…”

“…An Australian study (n=12,188, 12-17 years) found that compared with children who did not watch commercial TV, average viewers (≤ 2 hours/day) were more likely to report asking for a food product they had seen advertised in the last month (OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.10-1.42 (p<0.01)), while more frequent viewers (> 2 hours/day) were more likely to have both asked for (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.38-1.88 (p<0.001)) and tried a new food product they had seen advertised (OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.27-1.71 (p<0.001)) [49]. Stronger associations were seen between exposure to all forms of non-broadcast (non-TV) marketing and children's food choices, particularly in children with greater than two exposures in the last month (ORs 2.48 -3.74 (p<0.001)).…”

“…Observational studies have found statistically significant positive associations between children's (3-18 years) exposure to food marketing and their food choice, consumption and usual intake [46][47][48][49][50][51], with effect sizes ranging from small (odds ratio (OR) <2) to moderate-strong (OR ≥3 or <4) [52]. Marketing exposure was assessed through either parental or self-report or using data on advertising patterns, including Gross Ratings Points (GRPs).…”

The Prevalence and Correlates of Eating Between Meals in a Cross-Sectional Study of a Health Oriented Adult Population

“…Exposure to commercial advertising of snacks and the extent of watching TV programs was associated with a higher likelihood of serving fast foods and sweets, in both children and adults [11,12].…”