Advertising and children's food requests - Head Start Programs

Nutrition Research Newsletter, March, 2004

Television remains one of the most powerful sources of media communication despite the introduction of other technological innovations such as the Internet. Children watch approximately 27 hrs of television per week, with minority children spending more time watching television. The food advertisements aimed at young children are for less-nutritious food products, with sugared cereals and high-energy snacks heading the list. Television advertisements include nutrition information that is frequently misleading and inaccurate.

Some research has shown that children can benefit from the comments of family members or others, while they are watching television and commercials. As a result, nutrition researchers have recommended consumer education programs and curriculums that can provide parents with skills to assess the inaccurate nutrition information presented through television advertising and programs targeting their children. Some researchers at Columbia University examined the effects of a media literacy nutrition education intervention on Head Start parents' knowledge, psychosocial beliefs and ability to mediate the impact of television food advertising to their children.

Thirty-five parents from Head Start programs were included in this study. The parents participated in both a four-week food safety curriculum (to serve as an educational placebo, comparison condition) that was followed immediately by a four-week media literacy nutrition education curriculum (intervention condition). Two evaluation instruments (an outcome evaluation and a process evaluation) were then used. The outcome evaluation instrument assessed behaviors in relation to talking about television advertisements with children while co-viewing or in response to purchase requests in the grocery store, psychosocial variables and knowledge. The process evaluation assessed whether the parents considered the workshops helpful, useful, and understandable.

The demographics of the survey showed that 21 subjects had two or three television sets in the home; 12 had a TV in the preschooler's room; 22 subjects watched TV with their preschooler; 22 participants co-viewed children's programs on weekdays and 4 on weekends; and 12 subjects reported that their preschooler accompanied them to the grocery stores. The media literacy nutrition education intervention curriculum had significant effect in terms of Head Start parents' understanding television advertising, attitudes about television advertisements, outcome expectations, values, self-efficacy, and TV mediation behaviors--and understanding of, and ability to read, food labels. There were some differences between the four Head Start sites for each of the scales. Overall, there was a tendency for the smaller sites to do well and the larger sites to do less well in relation to scores on the tests.

The data from this study show that parents learned how to critically analyze television commercials as well as understand the media elements and persuasive tools used by advertisers to make commercials. Parents also placed increased value on good nutrition, and they felt that it was important to them that their children understand what is truthful in television advertisements. The study also shows that dietitians can easily conduct a media literacy nutrition education curriculum. Dietitians can also modify the curriculum to teach parents how to critically analyze many other forms of media that sell nutrition misinformation to the public.

Toby J. Hindin, Isobel R. Contento, and Joan Dye Gussow. A media literacy nutrition education curriculum for Head Start parents about the effects of television advertising on their children's food requests. JADA 104(2): 192198 (February, 2004) [Address correspondence to: Toby J. Hindin, EdD, Program in Nutrition, Department of Health and Behavior Studies, Teachers College, Columbia University, 525 W. 120th ST, Box 137, New York, NY 10027. E-mail: tjhindin@verizon.net]