Food advertising on Iranian children's TV programs

Background & Objective: TV advertisements are among the effective factors on food choice of children. Possible adverse effect of food advertising on children food choices and health has become a major concern. This study aimed to analyze content of food advertisement during children's TV programs aired on two major Iran national TV network in spring 2007.
Methods:
A content analysis was conducted to identify type of products and their presentation during children's TV programs in 2 major national TV channels. monitored about 15 hours (one week in June, 2007) of children's TV program broadcast on channel I & II of Iranian TV. All advertisements broadcast before, during and after children's programs were videotaped. A detailed record of advertisements duration and content was used for analysis.
Results: In total, 49 advertisements were recorded with 19 food and beverage commercials. Food products advertised included chocolate, cheetose (extruded cereals), ice cream, cookie, and plum paste. Dairy products and ice creams were the most frequent advertised food products (47%). Food commercials comprised 39% of all advertisements broadcast within the recording period in the two channels.  Duration of each food advertisement ranged between 10 to 36 seconds. The most frequent appeals of food advertisements was "making a profit" (53%).
Conclusion: Most food and products promoted during children's programming were high in fat, sodium with low nutrient density. The link between TV food advertising and consumption of such foods by Iranian children needs to be explored.