Ultraprocessed Foods in Popular Children's Television Series

Research on children's television programming examining the quality of presented foods finds a prevalence of processed foods, though the degree of processing of the foods shown has not been extensively examined. This study aims to assess the quality of the food presented in popular children's television series, based on the NOVA food classification system, and distinguish between the way foods are presented.

We selected 100 episodes of 10 cartoon television series that had large audiences of children. Food items, either eaten by heroes or introduced visually or verbally in television series, were recorded per episode. They were then classified according to the NOVA system. Differences by the series continent of origin (Europe, North America, or Asia) were also examined.

The median number of food recordings per episode was 3.0, with most (61.5%) classified as foods introduced visually or verbally. More than half of all foods featured per episode were ultraprocessed foods (UPF) and one third of them were minimally processed foods (MPF), while other NOVA food categories rarely appeared. Both UPF and MPF were presented more often as foods introduced visually or verbally rather than as foods eaten, but UPF represented 72% of the foods eaten per episode. European cartoons broadcasted more UPF items compared with North American television series.

UPF dominated in children's television series, especially those of European origin, raising a public health concern for Europe.