Children's TV shows portraying unhealthy food as attractive and appealing, says study

More than half of food depicted in kids TV shows is unhealthy, according to a study published in the Irish Medical Journal this month.

More than half of food depicted in kids TV shows is unhealthy, a study published in the Irish Medical Journal according to this month.

Researchers found fruit and veg made up only about 10% of what children were watching on TV.

One of the authors of the study, Clodagh O’Gorman, is a professor of paediatrics at the University of Limerick - she said that the team went into great detail into looking at the way food is presented on TV.

"They were watching food for about every four minutes, for 13 seconds, and the vast majority of those foods were foods that were unhealthy, foods that should be eaten in moderation and drinks that should be taken in moderation," she said.

"And despite this, the characters that were consuming thses foods were healthy characters, well-appearing characters, and happy.

"So we're taking foods that should be eaten in moderation and we're postraying them very positively to children."

The study found that foods such as sweet snacks and candy accounted for 47.5% of all food-specific placements and sugar-sweetened beverages accounted for 25% of all beverage placements.

"Consistent with previous research, social or celebratory motivations for food and beverage depictions within childrenspecific programming were most common," the report stated.

"Motivations and outcomes for cues were similar across UK and Irish television programming.

"Thus, eating (particularly, eating fatty and sugary foods and sugar-sweetened beverages) is portrayed to children in an attractive and appealing light."

The report also pointed out that in previous studies, "97.8% of food-product advertisements viewed by children aged 2-11 years old were for unhealthy foods".