Grant Number:	1R01CA138456-01A1 Interpret this number
Primary Investigator:	Powell, Lisa
Organization:	University Of Illinois At Chicago
Project Title:	Television Advertising and Children's Diet Activity and Obesity Prevalence
Fiscal Year:	2010

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Poor diet, inactivity and obesity have been linked to increased risks for a number of chronic diseases including cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Obesity and related health risk factors present in children are likely to persist into adulthood. The proposed research will investigate the relationships between televised advertisements for food, beverages, restaurants, and public service healthy diet and physical activity (HDPA) health promotion messages, and diet, physical activity, body mass index (BMI) and obesity among children and youth. The overwhelming majority (97.8%) of food product ads seen on television by American children are of poor nutritional content, being high in either sugar, fat or sodium. Most research has assessed the effect of advertising based on 1) evidence that TV watching time correlates with poor diet and/or obesity; or, 2) small- scale natural experiments that have focused on food requests or limited specific food choices which may have low external validity. The proposed project will build substantially on the previous literature. The specific aims are threefold: 1) examine the relationship between exposure to food, beverage and restaurant advertising (measured by total product exposure and nutritional content of ads using age and race-specific ratings) and children's and youths' dietary intake patterns (i.e., consumption of specific food products/groups and food away from home including fast food), diet quality (i.e., total caloric intake, % fat and % sugar in diet and overall healthy eating index), BMI and obesity; 2) examine the relationship between exposure to HDPA health promotion ads and diet, physical activity, BMI and obesity; and 3) examine the interactions between food- related and HDPA health promotion ads and neighborhood contextual factors (i.e., food prices and restaurant, food store, and physical activity-related outlet availability) and diet, activity and BMI/obesity. To accomplish these aims, the proposed research will conduct secondary data analyses, using a unique combination of four types of data: 1) television age- and race-specific ratings data for all food, beverage, restaurant, and anti- obesity advertisements, purchased from Nielsen Media Research for 106 designated media markets; 2) detailed nutritional content information about the advertised food products, 3) local area contextual data on food prices and outlet density measures; 4) data on population dietary intake, physical activity and measured height and weight from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, two nationally representative population surveys one of which is longitudinal. The proposed project represents the most comprehensive exploration to date of the relationship between food, beverage, restaurant and HDPA health promotion advertising and diet, activity and BMI. Given the serious public health risk posed by poor diet, inactivity and obesity, this research can provide important information for policymakers and public health advocates about the potential effectiveness of regulating food television advertising to children and using TV media campaigns as policy tools for improving these health outcomes. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The proposed research will investigate the relationships between televised advertisements for food, beverages, restaurants, and public service healthy diet and physical activity health promotion messages, and diet, physical activity, body mass index and obesity among children and youth using market-level television ratings data and nationally representative cross-sectional and longitudinal population data. Given the serious public health risks including cancer and cardiovascular diseases posed by poor diet, inactivity and obesity, this research can provide important information for policymakers and public health advocates about the potential effectiveness of regulating food television advertising to children and using TV media campaigns as policy tools for improving these health outcomes.




Food and beverage television advertising exposure and youth consumption, body mass index and adiposity outcomes.
Authors: Powell L.M. , Wada R. , Khan T. , Emery S.L. .
Source: The Canadian Journal Of Economics. Revue Canadienne D'economique, 2017 May; 50(2), p. 345-364.
EPub date: 2017-05-10 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 28947838
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Televised obesity-prevention advertising across US media markets: exposure and content, 2010-2011.
Authors: Kornfield R. , Szczypka G. , Powell L.M. , Emery S.L. .
Source: Public Health Nutrition, 2015 Apr; 18(6), p. 983-93.
PMID: 25076385
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Energy and nutrient intake from pizza in the United States.
Authors: Powell L.M. , Nguyen B.T. , Dietz W.H. .
Source: Pediatrics, 2015 Feb; 135(2), p. 322-30.
PMID: 25601973
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Racial/ethnic and income disparities in child and adolescent exposure to food and beverage television ads across the U.S. media markets.
Authors: Powell L.M. , Wada R. , Kumanyika S.K. .
Source: Health & Place, 2014 Sep; 29, p. 124-31.
PMID: 25086271
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Nutritional content of food and beverage products in television advertisements seen on children's programming.
Authors: Powell L.M. , Schermbeck R.M. , Chaloupka F.J. .
Source: Childhood Obesity (print), 2013 Dec; 9(6), p. 524-31.
PMID: 24206260
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Food marketing expenditures aimed at youth: putting the numbers in context.
Authors: Powell L.M. , Harris J.L. , Fox T. .
Source: American Journal Of Preventive Medicine, 2013 Oct; 45(4), p. 453-61.
PMID: 24050422
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Fast-food and full-service restaurant consumption among children and adolescents: effect on energy, beverage, and nutrient intake.
Authors: Powell L.M. , Nguyen B.T. .
Source: Jama Pediatrics, 2013 Jan; 167(1), p. 14-20.
PMID: 23128151
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Energy intake from restaurants: demographics and socioeconomics, 2003-2008.
Authors: Powell L.M. , Nguyen B.T. , Han E. .
Source: American Journal Of Preventive Medicine, 2012 Nov; 43(5), p. 498-504.
PMID: 23079172
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Trends in the nutritional content of television food advertisements seen by children in the United States: analyses by age, food categories, and companies.
Authors: Powell L.M. , Schermbeck R.M. , Szczypka G. , Chaloupka F.J. , Braunschweig C.L. .
Source: Archives Of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 2011 Dec; 165(12), p. 1078-86.
PMID: 21810626
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