Estimated Exposure to Televised Alcohol Advertisements Among Children and Adolescents

Alcohol advertising on television in China has the potential to target children and adolescents with harmful content. Understanding the extent of this advertising is critical for informing and improving current regulatory approaches.

To measure the exposure of alcohol advertisements on television channels popular among children and adolescents in Beijing, China.

This cross-sectional study of television advertisements used the 4 most popular television channels for viewers aged 3 to 18 years (2 children's channels and 2 general channels) in Beijing and accessed advertisements recorded from October 19, 2020, to January 17, 2021. Television advertisements were recorded during 4 randomly selected weekdays and 4 randomly selected weekend days (from 6:00 am to 11:59 pm). Data were analyzed from October 1, 2023, to December 31, 2024.

Television alcohol advertisements, with food and nonalcoholic beverages (F&B) advertisements classified as not permitted in marketing to children included as comparison.

Primary outcomes included frequency and distribution of alcohol advertisements, rate per channel-hour, and potential exposure during peak viewing times (PVT). Secondary outcomes included comparison with F&B advertisements classified as not permitted based on the World Health Organization Western Pacific Region Office Nutrient Profile Model integrated with the International Network for Food and Obesity/Non-communicable Diseases Research, Monitoring and Action Support (INFORMAS) food classification system and analysis of 6 marketing strategies.

Among 13 864 total advertisements included in the analysis, 5368 were food advertisements. Among the food advertisements, 321 (6.0%; 95% CI, 5.4%-6.7%) were alcohol advertisements and 2001 (37.3%; 95% CI, 36.0%-38.6%) were F&B advertisements classified as not permitted. On general channels, a mean (SD) of 1.1 (1.7) alcohol advertisements per channel-hour were identified, with significantly higher rates during PVT compared with non-PVT (2.0 [2.4] vs 0.7 [0.9] per channel-hour; P < .001). The highest rate occurred between 9:00 and 9:59 pm, with a mean (SD) of 3.7 (2.8) advertisements per channel-hour and an estimated mean (SD) of 14 303 014 (11 659 096) impressions among children and adolescents. All 321 alcohol advertisements (100%; 95% CI, 98.9%-100%) and 1997 F&B advertisements classified as not permitted (99.8%; 95% CI, 99.5%-99.9%) used at least 1 marketing strategy, predominantly brand benefit claims, which were used in 307 alcohol advertisements (95.6%; 95% CI, 92.8%-97.4%) and 1915 F&B advertisements classified as not permitted (95.7%; 95% CI, 94.7%-96.5%).

In this cross-sectional study of television advertising, alcohol advertisements on general channels exceeded regulatory limits, especially during PVT. These findings suggest that current regulations allow exposure of children and adolescents to alcohol marketing and should be strengthened.