Food appearances in children's television programmes in Iceland

Area of Science:

• Nutritional Science
• Media Studies
• Public Health

Background:

• Childhood dietary habits are crucial for long-term health.
• Television viewing is associated with children's dietary intake.
• Previous research focused on advertisements, but non-advertisement content also influences children's eating.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the presence and context of food and beverage appearances in children's TV programs on Icelandic public service television.
• To specifically examine high-calorie, low-nutrient (HCLN) foods and fruits and vegetables (F&V).

Main Methods:

• Content analysis of 27 hours of children's programming on Icelandic public service television.
• Coding of all verbal and visual food/beverage appearances and their context.
• Statistical analysis (chi-squared test, logistic regression) to assess associations between food groups and context.

Main Results:

• Foods/beverages appeared in 86% of the 125 analyzed programs.
• High-calorie, low-nutrient (HCLN) foods constituted 26% of appearances, while fruits and vegetables (F&V) were 23%.
• HCLN foods were more frequently depicted with child characters compared to F&V, suggesting desirability (P<0.01).

Conclusions:

• Icelandic public service television can play a role in shaping children's food perceptions.
• Opportunities exist to present food and eating more healthily within children's programming.
• Positive media portrayals during early childhood are vital for establishing lifelong healthy eating habits.