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With childhood obesity continuing to plague nations throughout the world, a wide range of causes and solutions are being explored. Recently, a team of researchers from the University of California-Davis studied the type and frequency of commercials on children’s networks.

The UCD study appeared in the November/December edition of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. A Nov. 4 press release included the following details about the research team's findings:

• When compared to television for a general audience, children's networks in this study exposed young viewers to 76 percent more food commercials per hour than did the other networks, with the Saturday morning 7-10 a.m. time slot being more saturated with food commercials.
• Out of 5,724 commercials recorded, 1,162 were food-related, with 91.2 percent of food promotions in English, and 8.7% in Spanish. Only 1 commercial was bilingual.
• Overall, nearly 1 in 5 advertisements was for a food or nutrition-related product, with 5.2 food advertisements presented every hour.
• Fast-food restaurants, sugary food, chips/crackers, and sugar-added beverages collectively accounted for more than 70 percent of food commercials.
• 34 percent of the commercials were for ''food on the run,'' fast-food restaurants and convenience food.

"Approximately 7.7 food commercials per hour appeared in programming on the children's networks," the release notes, "which is approximately one food commercial every 8 minutes."

Labels: advertising, commercials, television