The Effect of Screen Advertising on Children's Dietary Intake: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Overview

Journal Obes Rev

Specialty Endocrinology

Date 2018 Dec 22

PMID 30576057

Citations 63

Authors

Simon J Russell

Helen Croker

Russell M Viner

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Evidence indicates that screen advertising for unhealthy food results in significant increases in dietary intake among children. This review was undertaken with the main aim of estimating the quantitative effect of screen advertising in experimental and nonexperimental conditions on children's dietary intake. Systematic searches were undertaken of interdisciplinary databases. Studies from 1980 to April 2018, all geography and languages, were included; participants were children and adolescents aged between 2 and 18 years; the intervention was screen advertising; and the outcome was dietary intake. Meta-analyses were conducted for measured and nonmeasured outcomes. Food advertising was found to increase dietary intake among children (age range 2-14, mean 8.8 years) in experimental conditions for television (TV) advertising and advergames. Meta-analysis revealed that children exposed to food advertising on TV (11 studies) and advergames (five studies) respectively consumed an average 60.0 kcal (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.1-116.9) and 53.2 kcal (95% CI, 31.5-74.9) more than children exposed to nonfood advertising. There was also an effect by body mass index (BMI). Findings from nonexperimental studies revealed that exposure to TV food advertising was positively associated with and predictive of dietary intake in children. Short-term exposure to unhealthy food advertising on TV and advergames increases immediate calorie consumption in children.

Citing Articles

Connectome-wide brain signature during fast-food advertisement exposure predicts BMI at 2 years.

Papantoni A, Gearhardt A, Yokum S, Hoover L, Finn E, Shearrer G Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2025; 20(1).

PMID: 40056150 PMC: 11891444. DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsaf018.

A scoping review of children's and parents' attitudes to and awareness of digital food marketing.

Vaughan E, Muc Da Encarnacao M, Brown E, Nealon Lennox O, Kelly C, Tatlow-Golden M Health Promot Int. 2025; 40(2).

PMID: 40037912 PMC: 11879646. DOI: 10.1093/heapro/daae189.

A political economy analysis of the legislative response to unhealthy food and beverage marketing in Chile, Canada and the UK.

Sing F, MacKay S, Swinburn B, Garton K Global Health. 2025; 21(1):4.

PMID: 39979992 PMC: 11841346. DOI: 10.1186/s12992-024-01093-1.

Advertising and child health.

Choonara I BMJ Paediatr Open. 2025; 9(1.

PMID: 39788874 PMC: 11748938. DOI: 10.1136/bmjpo-2024-003260.

Intergenerational care and rural childhood obesity in the digital era: Based on screen exposure perspective.

Wang X, Zhang Y SSM Popul Health. 2024; 27:101694.

PMID: 39055642 PMC: 11269810. DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2024.101694.

References

Khangura S, Konnyu K, Cushman R, Grimshaw J, Moher D . Evidence summaries: the evolution of a rapid review approach. Syst Rev. 2012; 1:10. PMC: 3351736. DOI: 10.1186/2046-4053-1-10. View

Halford J, Boyland E, Hughes G, Stacey L, McKean S, Dovey T . Beyond-brand effect of television food advertisements on food choice in children: the effects of weight status. Public Health Nutr. 2007; 11(9):897-904. DOI: 10.1017/S1368980007001231. View

Boyland E, Nolan S, Kelly B, Tudur-Smith C, Jones A, Halford J . Advertising as a cue to consume: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of acute exposure to unhealthy food and nonalcoholic beverage advertising on intake in children and adults. Am J Clin Nutr. 2016; 103(2):519-33. DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.115.120022. View

Hennessy M, Bleakley A, Piotrowski J, Mallya G, Jordan A . Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption by Adult Caregivers and Their Children: The Role of Drink Features and Advertising Exposure. Health Educ Behav. 2015; 42(5):677-86. DOI: 10.1177/1090198115577379. View

Galbraith-Emami S, Lobstein T . The impact of initiatives to limit the advertising of food and beverage products to children: a systematic review. Obes Rev. 2013; 14(12):960-74. DOI: 10.1111/obr.12060. View

Waxman S . A systematic review of impulsivity in eating disorders. Eur Eat Disord Rev. 2009; 17(6):408-25. DOI: 10.1002/erv.952. View

Halford J, Boyland E, Hughes G, Oliveira L, Dovey T . Beyond-brand effect of television (TV) food advertisements/commercials on caloric intake and food choice of 5-7-year-old children. Appetite. 2007; 49(1):263-7. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2006.12.003. View

Boyland E, Harrold J, Dovey T, Allison M, Dobson S, Jacobs M . Food choice and overconsumption: effect of a premium sports celebrity endorser. J Pediatr. 2013; 163(2):339-43. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2013.01.059. View

Folkvord F, Anschutz D, Buijzen M, Valkenburg P . The effect of playing advergames that promote energy-dense snacks or fruit on actual food intake among children. Am J Clin Nutr. 2012; 97(2):239-45. DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.112.047126. View

10.

Andreyeva T, Kelly I, Harris J . Exposure to food advertising on television: associations with children's fast food and soft drink consumption and obesity. Econ Hum Biol. 2011; 9(3):221-33. DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2011.02.004. View

11.

Giese H, Konig L, Taut D, Ollila H, Baban A, Absetz P . Exploring the association between television advertising of healthy and unhealthy foods, self-control, and food intake in three European countries. Appl Psychol Health Well Being. 2014; 7(1):41-62. DOI: 10.1111/aphw.12036. View

12.

Warren C, Strauss J, Taska J, Sullivan S . Inspiring or dispiriting? The effect of diet commercials on snack food consumption in high school and college-aged women. Int J Eat Disord. 2005; 37(3):266-70. DOI: 10.1002/eat.20100. View

13.

Folkvord F, Anschutz D, Wiers R, Buijzen M . The role of attentional bias in the effect of food advertising on actual food intake among children. Appetite. 2014; 84:251-8. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2014.10.016. View

14.

Moher D, Liberati A, Tetzlaff J, Altman D . Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: the PRISMA statement. Ann Intern Med. 2009; 151(4):264-9, W64. DOI: 10.7326/0003-4819-151-4-200908180-00135. View

15.

Buijzen M, Schuurman J, Bomhof E . Associations between children's television advertising exposure and their food consumption patterns: a household diary-survey study. Appetite. 2007; 50(2-3):231-9. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2007.07.006. View

16.

Lee B, Kim H, Lee S, Yoon J, Chung S . Effects of exposure to television advertising for energy-dense/nutrient-poor food on children's food intake and obesity in South Korea. Appetite. 2014; 81:305-11. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2014.06.103. View

17.

Russell S, Croker H, Viner R . The effect of screen advertising on children's dietary intake: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Obes Rev. 2018; 20(4):554-568. PMC: 6446725. DOI: 10.1111/obr.12812. View

18.

Watt A, Cameron A, Sturm L, Lathlean T, Babidge W, Blamey S . Rapid versus full systematic reviews: validity in clinical practice?. ANZ J Surg. 2008; 78(11):1037-40. DOI: 10.1111/j.1445-2197.2008.04730.x. View

19.

Lwin M, Malik S, Ridwan H, Au C . Media exposure and parental mediation on fast-food consumption among children in metropolitan and suburban Indonesia. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2017; 26(5):899-905. DOI: 10.6133/apjcn.122016.04. View

20.

Scully M, Wakefield M, Niven P, Chapman K, Crawford D, Pratt I . Association between food marketing exposure and adolescents' food choices and eating behaviors. Appetite. 2011; 58(1):1-5. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2011.09.020. View