Kathryn Chapman

The use of negative themes in television food advertising

The ability of food advertising to trigger food consumption and influence social norms relating to food consumption has resulted in increasing attention being given to the prevalence and nature of food advertising. The present study investigated the use of negative themes in food advertisements aired on Australian television to determine the prevalence of depictions of violence/aggression, mocking, nagging, boredom, loneliness, food craving, mood enhancement, and the emotional use of food across 61 days of programming time. The results suggest that advertisers are using negative themes to capture attention and invoke an emotional response in the target audience. Sixteen percent (14,611) of the 93,284 food advertisements contained negative themes, with mood enhancement and food craving being the most commonly depicted negative themes. Advertisements with negative themes were more likely to be for non-core foods and to be aired during childrens popular viewing times than at other times. The potential for negative themes in food advertising to promote unhealthy food consumption behaviors among children is likely to be of concern to policy makers. Building on this exploratory study, further research is needed to investigate how nutrition-related decision making is affected by exposure to food advertisements employing negative emotional themes.

Trends in the cost of a healthy food basket and fruit and vegetable availability in New South Wales, Australia, between 2006 and 2009

Aim To compare food costs and variety of fresh fruits and vegetables (F&V) available at three time points in December 2006, December 2008 and July 2009. Methods Data on the cost of a 44-item food basket across the main food groups including fresh and packaged foods were collected in 2006 (149 stores), 2008 (105 stores) and 2009 (129 stores). In addition, the number of varieties of 30 different fresh F&V was surveyed. Stores included the two major supermarket chains and smaller grocery chains using a convenience sample in NSW. The effects of rural/regional differences, socioeconomic differences, and store competition on cost and variety were assessed. Results The mean price of the food basket increased by 3.4% between December 2006 and 2008 and was lowest in July 2009, decreasing by 6.2% from December 2006. Variation between the cheapest and most expensive individual stores resulted in a

Advertising to children initiatives have not reduced unhealthy food advertising on Australian television.

221 price difference in 2009,

Predictors of the frequency of Australian children's consumption of unhealthy foods.

148 in 2008 and

Parental perceptions of barriers to children's participation in organised sport in Australia.

182 in 2006. Total food and F&V costs were more expensive in remote areas compared with highly accessible areas. The number of F&V varieties was influenced by increasing remoteness, low socioeconomic area and supermarket competition. Conclusions There was considerable variability in food costs by geographic areas and availability of fresh F&V also varied in both geographic and socio-demographic areas. Monitoring of food costs may help reduce price variability, enabling identification of areas where the cost of food is disproportionately high.

A comparison of the cost of generic and branded food products in Australian supermarkets

Background In response to rising childhood obesity rates, the Australian food industry implemented two initiatives in 2009 to reduce the marketing of unhealthy food to children. This study evaluated the efficacy of these initiatives on the rate of unhealthy food advertising to children on Australian television. Methods The rates of food advertisements on three free‐to‐air commercial television channels and a youth‐oriented digital channel in Sydney, Australia were analysed over 2 weekdays (16 h) and two weekend days (22 h). Advertisements were categorized according to the healthiness of foods advertised (non‐core, core, miscellaneous) and signatory status to the food industry advertising initiatives. Results Total food advertising rates for the three channels increased from 5.5/h in 2011 to 7.3/h in 2015, due to an increase of 0.8/h for both core and miscellaneous foods. The rate of non‐core food advertisements in 2015 (3.1/h) was similar to 2011 (3.0/h). The youth‐oriented channel had fewer total food advertisements (3.7/h versus 7.3/h) but similar fast‐food advertisement rates (1.3/h versus 1.3/h). Conclusions There was no change in the rate of unhealthy food advertising since 2011, suggesting minimal impact of the current food industry initiatives on reducing childrens exposure to unhealthy food advertising.

Time to address continued poor vegetable intake in Australia for prevention of chronic disease

Child obesity interventions need to be based on a sound understanding of the factors that influence childrens diets.