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Media portrayal of foods during Saturday morning television programming and in children's magazines
Author(s) -
WARNKE MICHELE R.,
ALBRECHT JULIE A.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
journal of consumer studies and home economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.775
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1470-6431
pISSN - 0309-3891
DOI - 10.1111/j.1470-6431.1994.tb00693.x
Subject(s) - morning , advertising , context (archaeology) , psychology , geography , medicine , business , archaeology
Eating habits are established in childhood and media portrayal of foods may affect food choices of children. To determine how foods are portrayed by the media, the contents of Saturday morning television programmes and commercials and three children's magazines were analysed. Foods portrayed during Saturday morning television programmes and commercials and in children's magazines were categorized as normal ‘food use’ (97.1% and 86.0%, respectively). Foods on television (91.3%) and in magazines (77.4%) were portrayed in a positive context. Foods were more often portrayed neutrally in magazines (206%) than on television (64%). The number of fruits and vegetables mentioned or shown on television did not statistically differ from the number of breads or cereals (P ≥ 0–05). In contrast, when combined as one group. fruits and vegetables that were included in magazines appeared more often than bread or cereals (P ≤ 0.05). Eighty per cent of all foods mentioned/shown on Saturday morning television were part of commercials, whereas only 12% of all foods in magazines were located in advertisements. Results indicate that opportunities exist in print and electronic media to convey positive nutritional messages about foods to children.