Ten attacked over junk food ads
Advertisers of unhealthy foods make Network Ten their first choice, research published today by consumer watchdog Choice claims.
According to the report – Food Advertising to Children: Who’s The Biggest Loser? – Ten carried 41% of the 755 junk food ads aired during the week last April that the group monitored. Nine had 37% and Seven 23%.
The definition of junk food was taken from criteria set out by Food Standards Australia New Zealand.
The show which saw the most ads of that type was Ten’s McDonald’s-sponsored So You Think You Can Dance, with 23 ads of the type across two episodes. However, despite the title of the report, Ten’s show The Biggest Loser only contained one junk food ad.
A spokesman for Ten told today’s Sun-Herald that the report contained fundamental flaws including a too-small sample size.
Ten has provided these further comments:
The report has some fundamental flaws on a number of important bases:
It was not necessarily a typical viewing or advertising week:
• It was conducted in school holidays when viewing patterns change. (Sydney children spent more time watching TV that week than the 2008 average.)
• It focussed on one week in one market only, which is too small a sample.
• It was not necessarily a representative sample as advertising patterns adapt week to week, season to season.
It claims a 90 minute show (Dance) broadcasts more ads than a 30 minute show. Of course it does, the program’s 3 times longer.
It’s not obvious that, during that week, the overwhelming majority (over 80%) of our audience – and in fact of all people watching TV – were adults (ie people over 18 years).
It seems to blur the timeslots and periods under review. One example: page 3 refers to 6 am to 9 pm, 13 – 19 April 2008 as the period of the study, whereas, point 3 on page 1 talks about 7.30 – 8pm (but it’s not specific about what particular day, week, month or year). On that point about 7.30 – 8 pm and more than six times as many children watching TV than at 4 pm – I’m not sure how it is substantiated. The only statistically valid way to make that claim is to reference it to specific dates, or as an average over a period.
It’s not clear whether they have reasonably attributed various ads according to their definition of what constitutes ‘junk food’.
Interestingly, our very popular programs singled out (So You Think You Can Dance, Bondi Rescue and The Biggest Loser) actively promote physical activity and a healthy lifestyle.
Many of the conclusions about a link between advertising and childhood obesity have been found to be invalid in other markets.
• Notions like nutrient profiling would rule out foods such as Vegemite, olive oil, most milk and most cereals – it’s currently being reviewed in the UK.
• The UK government has subsequently acknowledged that it may never be able to prove its partial ban on food advertising introduced in 2007 has worked.
• Australia’s regulator ACMA has been unable to establish a clear causal link between advertising and children’s food choices – in fact, ACMA has identified parents’ diet as playing a far more significant influence in children’s food preferences. (And, for the record, that week 73% of Dance’s Sydney 0-14 yrs audience on Sunday and 78% on Monday were watching with an adult .)