| Purpose. The purpose of this study was to assess the dietary behavior endorsed on TV by comparing the nutritional quality of advertised foods to established nutritional guidelines.;Methods. Over 28 consecutive days, a total of 84 hours of prime time and 12 hours of Saturday morning broadcast were observed on four broadcast networks: ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC. For each half-hour time slot, the number of ads, ad sponsors, and promoted food items were recorded. Nutritional data was assigned to each observed food item using Nutritionist Pro software. Audience groups were determined using data from Nielsen Media Research. One-sample t-tests were used to compare (a) observed food group servings to the Food Guide Pyramid and (b) observed nutrient content to Daily Values. T-tests for independent samples and ANOVA were used to compare servings and nutrient content across networks, audience groups, type of show, and time of broadcast.;Results. Of the 3,584 advertisements observed, 614 (17%) food-related ads promoted 831 distinct food items. Compared to guidelines, observed food items provided 25 times the recommended daily servings (RDS) of sugar and 20 times the RDS of fat, but less than 1/2 of the RDS of dairy, fruits, and vegetables. The observed food items also over-supplied 8 nutrients, including sodium, saturated fat, and cholesterol, but under-supplied 12 essential nutrients, including iron, calcium, vitamin E, and fiber. These foods also over-supplied alcohol, caffeine, and trans fat. Foods targeted to children supplied over 100 times the RDS of sugar but only 1/3 of the RDS of vegetables, 1/10 the RDS of meat, 1/20 the RDS of dairy and no fruits at all. These foods also over-supplied 8 essential nutrients and under-supplied 13 essential nutrients.;Conclusions. American TV ads implicitly promote a "TV Diet" and a "Kids TV Diet" that are contrary to nutritional guidelines. These endorsement are consistent across broadcast network and schedule, show content and popularity, and race of the viewing audience. These TV Diets constitute a pervasive source of dietary misinformation that could contribute to serious chronic illness, such as obesity, heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, and diabetes. |
