What are the television viewing and eating habits of children in Peru?

Abstract

While there is already consensus in the scientific community about the deleterious effects of TV exposure, especially through TV advertisements, on children's beliefs, preferences, and food intake, the link between TV and children's eating behaviors is under-studied in Peru, a country experiencing a steady economic growth in recent years and currently with a status of upper-middle-income country. Following research about the effects of media exposure on childhood obesity, we report on a qualitative study of TV viewing and the eating habits of children attending elementary schools in Lima, the capital. Data from eight focus groups with 38 boys and girls between 6 and 11 years old, eight focus groups with 36 female caretakers, and in-depth interviews with two fathers provided consistent information about children's eating habits and media viewing patterns. After dual coding the entire corpus of qualitative data, we found that children watch a great deal of TV during the school season: children watch as early as when they wake up in the morning, then during lunchtime (after returning from school), and then again after completing their homework from 5 pm to 9 pm or 10 pm. Survey data from the parents showed that, on average, children watch about 5 hours of TV on weekdays and more during a weekend-day. This large amount of exposure is concerning, especially because the focus groups revealed that children (1) recall a number of TV advertisements involving food items, (2) request food items seen on TV, and (3) are able to buy food for themselves, which usually involves chocolate, candy, or potato chips. Boys and girls reported different favorite TV shows, suggesting differences in exposure to TV content related to food. In addition, some families reported drinking sodas frequently, underlining a behavior that should be discouraged by public health officials.

Television Viewing and Its Association with Sedentary Behaviors, Self-Rated Health and Academic Performance among Secondary School Students in Peru

“…Qualitative findings also show that adolescents spend most of their leisure time watching television, playing video games or using the Internet. A study among parents in Lima also showed that, on average, children watch about 5 h of television on weekdays and more during weekend-days [29]. This indicates there is a gap in the amount of television watching time as reported by adolescents themselves and by the parents.…”

“…Recent studies show that the prevalence of overweight and obesity was relatively high in children and adolescents [27,28]. As stated by Busse and Ramon in their study on television viewing and eating habits of children in Lima, there is very little evidence on television viewing and associated behaviors of adolescents [29]. In addition, adolescents are more vulnerable to sedentary behaviors and poor SRH [19,27,28,29].…”

“…As stated by Busse and Ramon in their study on television viewing and eating habits of children in Lima, there is very little evidence on television viewing and associated behaviors of adolescents [29]. In addition, adolescents are more vulnerable to sedentary behaviors and poor SRH [19,27,28,29]. This study is interested in specifically exploring if television viewing is independently associated with other screen-based sedentary behaviors, SRH and academic performance in adolescents attending school.…”

Nutrition status of children in Latin America

“…Advertising has been shown to strongly influence consumer choices and likely plays a role in changing diets in Latin America . It has been previously reported that in Mexico, where approximately 95% of homes have a television, the food group most frequently advertised is SSB (24.6%), followed by chocolate and confectionery sugar (19.7%), cakes, sweet biscuits and pastries (12.0%), savoury snacks (9.3%), breakfast cereals (7.1%), ready‐to‐eat food (6.4%) and dairy products (6.0%) .…”

Scoping review of studies on food marketing in Latin America: Summary of existing evidence and research gaps

“…Ten studies found most children enjoyed television food advertisements and are enticed by these ads to try new foods 25,26,30,[32][33][34]38,39,42,54 .…”