Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Television advertising of unhealthy foodstuff to preschool and school children is potentially detrimental to oral health
Food preferences get established at a very early age in life and have been found to influence food habits through childhood and into adulthood and therefore are not easy to change later. These unhealthy eating behaviors contribute to weight gain, long-term health and chronic disease risks . In UK the Foresight report on obesity predicted that, 55% of all boys and 70% of girls could be overweight or obese by 2050 and will cost the country £45 billion a year. Earlier In 2003, the WHO in Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases report recognized that the heavy marketing of fast food and energy-dense micronutrient-poor foods and drinks is a probable causal factor in obesity, and a target for preventive action.We see that television food advertising has attracted criticism for its potential role in promoting unhealthy dietary practices among children and is therefore currently under scrutiny internationally.Studies have shown that preschoolers and grade school children's food preferences and food purchase requests for high sugar and high fat foods are influenced by television exposure to food advertising. In a systematic review commissioned by the United Kingdom Food Standards Agency, found that food advertising to children affects their food choices as well as influences dietary habits, with subsequent implications for weight gain.There is strong evidence that a high proportion of food advertised to children is unhealthy and for non-core foods (high in fat, salt and/or sugar).TV advertising on food is a big business, adding up to about $745 million each year and more than half of those dollars are spent trying to reach kids under the age of 12 since children are viewed as an important market because of their tremendous spending power and influence over parents’ income. For example, Vignali study showed that the success of McDonald’s in East Asia has been achieved by appealing to children and teenagers through television advertising.In view of the possible detrimental effects of TV food advertising another potential harm that may result is dental caries or tooth decay. It is the most prevalent chronic illness in children and frequent consumption of refined carbohydrates and acid-containing beverages places children and adolescents at an increased risk of caries. Dental caries and obesity both constitute a significant public health problem worldwide and both are related to poor food selection behavior. However the oral health influence of these media advertisements and its different aspects has been given little attention and very few studies have actually highlighted the harmful effects of food advertising on oral health which is an important finding and crucial for future dental public health regulations and recommendations. For example, Rodd and Pate found that children's television programming broadcast on the main UK commercial channel, most frequently promoted food/drink products including breakfast cereals with added sugar (26.3%), confectionery (23.7%) and non-carbonated soft drinks (18.1%) and 95.3% of these had potential to decay and erode teeth. In another study Batada et al., showed that the most commonly advertised food categories were ready-to-eat breakfast cereal and cereal bars (27% of all food advertisements), restaurants, and snack foods which were high in fat, sodium, or added sugars and were poor in nutrients and play a role in tooth decay. Along similar lines a more recent study analyzed the nature and content of advertising during children’s popular television viewing times and found that the proportion of advertising time was devoted to food, drink and confectionery and 38.4% of this food advertising was for the food and drink high in sugar which was deemed potential to give rise to dental caries. Likewise, Chestnutt and Ashraf., also showed that a much greater proportion of advertising time was devoted to food products, with 73.4 % of this being devoted to products deemed potentially detrimental to oral health (primarily high in sugar). Another interesting finding that Morgan et al ., highlighted in their study was the shift in advertising away from confectionery and towards foods that appear healthier but actually contain large amounts of hidden sugars; for example, high-sugar breakfast cereals and sweetened dairy products which are promoted as constituents of a healthy diet. Earlier in 2003 the UK Department of Health requested Ofcom (Office of Communications , the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries) to look at the possibility of strengthening the rules on food advertising to children on television. In February 2007, Ofcom published its final statement which included for example scheduling restrictions to food and drink products assessed as HFSS (High in fat sugar and salt); total ban on HFSS food and drink advertisements in and around all programmes of particular appeal to children under 16 years old. A consumer organisation called Consumers International, spanning 155 countries and including over 220 member organisations, also developed recommendations for an International Code on Marketing of Foods and Non- Alcoholic Beverages to Children which specified a ban on TV advertisements promoting unhealthy food. Kellogg (NYSE:K) and Nestle are one of 17 companies which decided to halt advertising on certain foods and beverages to children after 2013 unless they reduce sodium, fat and sugar in an act of self-regulation. However in a recent study by Powell et al., found that the total number of food-related ads seen by kids though had dropped since the implementation of the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) however the category of food advertising for kids on commercials for fast-food restaurants had increased by 21% for the younger children and by 31% for the older kids. Despite concerns voiced by public health professionals and the community there seems to be little protection for children against television advertising of unhealthy foods as we see discrepancy between the recommended dietary guidelines and the ‘broadcast diet’.Governments have a duty to protect children from the possible harmful effects of television food advertising since they contradict regulatory guidelines and undermine public health and parenting efforts to encourage healthy eating. Nestle SA, GlaxoSmithKline Plc and SAB Miller SA faced health lobbyists in New York, as the first United Nations General Assembly met in New York on September 19 and 20 to develop a global response to the obesity-related increase in non-communicable, chronic diseases now experienced throughout the world. They aim to produce a resolution for government action against for example; use of harmful food ingredient that the WHO says will cost the global economy more than $30 trillion over the next 20 years . In what Bloomberg News termed an "epidemic battle," food companies are doing everything they can to prevent the United Nations from issuing a statement that says anything about how food marketing promotes obesity and related chronic diseases. Though in 2004, the U.N. caved in to pressures from food companies and weakened its guidelines and recommendations.If the world leaders are serious to resolve this issue, they need to have a comprehensive strategy for one of the root causes – the food that our children eat. It is crucial for them to counter food industry efforts to sell unbalanced processed products rich in trans fats and saturated fats, salt and sugars through media advertisements and specifically to vulnerable audience like children. We therefore need strict policies governing broadcast of unhealthy food to children highlighting not only obesity and other health conditions but also oral health issues so that children can be protected from undue pressure to choose unhealthy food over healthy food which is affecting their oral health adversely.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
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