Abstract

Television Food Advertising and the Prevalence of Childhood Overweight and Obesity: A Multi-country Comparison

Author(s)

Janny Goris -Southern Population Health Services, Queensland Health

Dr Lennert Veerman -School of Population Health, The University of Queensland, Brisbane

Dr Solveig Petersen -Department of Clinical Sciences, Paediatrics, Umea University Umea, Sweden

Dr Emmanuel Stamatakis -National Institute for Health Research, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Uni Col London

Background: Prevalence of childhood obesity is increasing worldwide. Advertising for energy-dense and nutrient-poor foods has been identified as one of the causes, however the size of its contribution to childhood obesity is not known.

Objective: To estimate the contribution of TV food advertising to the prevalence of obesity among 6-11 year old children in Australia, Great Britain, Italy, The Netherlands, Sweden and United States of America.

Methods: We applied a mathematical model to compare the current situation in each country with a counterfactual scenario in which children are not exposed to TV food advertising. Obesity was defined using the IOTF cut-offs and modeled as a function of an underlying lognormal BMI distribution for age and sex. The counterfactual scenario was based on estimates of the average recent exposure to TV food advertising.

Results: The proportion of obesity prevalence among children aged 6 to 11 that is attributable to TV advertising is estimated at 14%-19% for USA; for Australia 9-12%; Italy 9-13%; The Netherlands 5-7%; Sweden 4-8%; Great Britain 4-7%. Use of experts' estimates yields 1.5 to 3 times higher results.

Conclusions: 
TV food advertising exposure varies considerably by country. Future research should better characterise the dose-response relationship between advertising and consumption. Reliable TV food advertising exposure data should also be collected. Policies limiting children's exposure to food promotion need to be considered as part of a broader strategy for making the diet of children healthier.