The government is launching an inquiry into the possible harmful effects of advertising on children.
The probe, part of a 10-year plan for children in England to be published next week, comes amid fears about the commercialisation of childhood.
It will look at evidence of links between adverts and dissatisfaction, anxiety, eating disorders and drinking.
Children see some 10,000 TV adverts a year and recognise 400 brands by age 10, Children's Secretary Ed Balls says.
'Sexualisation' of girls
He said many parents were concerned about youngsters being bombarded with adverts and media images that encouraged the "sexualisation" of girls.
Mr Balls said the inquiry would be carried out by leading child psychologists and academics.
They would look at the cumulative impact of advertising on different aspects of childhood and well-being, to see whether commercial pressure had a "negative impact".
"We need to look at the evidence around commercialisation before we jump to any conclusions," he said.
Mr Balls said a ministerial group would examine the links between advertising and binge-drinking among children, including the effects of a "spike" of alcohol adverts on television between 4pm and 6pm.
Mr Balls said he would not rule out introducing new regulations, but stopped short of suggesting a ban on alcohol advertising before the 9pm watershed.
10-year plan
A survey by education inspectors Ofsted last month found that one in five 10 to 15-year-olds regularly got drunk.
The BBC's James Westhead suggested that, rather than trying to ban adverts targeted at children, the government was more likely to try to foster a sense of responsibility among advertisers.
"Advertising during children's TV schedules is completely out of hand. " - Clive Hamilton
The details of the inquiry and the rest of the 10-year children's plan are due to be announced by Mr Balls on Tuesday.
It is set to look at all aspects of children's lives and could include changes in the design of schools, as well as attempts to get parents more directly involved in school activities and to improve the provision of safe play areas.
It is also expected to include a review of Sats tests and the primary school curriculum as well as an announcement of free nursery care for children as young as two from poorer families.
Monday, 14 January 2008
Sunday, 13 January 2008
An article from the times newspaper
The article is called: Celebrity adverts for fast food 'risk children's health'
January 27, 2003 article. By Rbin young and Sam Coates
The article is about celebrities promoting junk food to children. Watchdog are concerned that celebrities are promoting the wrong types of food and this is causing children to want the wrong types of food.
"with rising levels of obesity and diabetes in children, top footballers could be excellent role models for children, demonstrating the link between a good diet and health" said Annie seeley, the nutritionist for the Food Commission.
"But instead we see adverts showing players from Manchester United and Blackcurn Rovers drinking pepsi, the Premier League logo on walkers crisps, and the Football association encouraging children to eat chocolate and wear McDonald's football kit"
This article shows how advertising uses techniques to make children want to eat 'junk' food. This can lead to obesity and effect body image.
January 27, 2003 article. By Rbin young and Sam Coates
The article is about celebrities promoting junk food to children. Watchdog are concerned that celebrities are promoting the wrong types of food and this is causing children to want the wrong types of food.
"with rising levels of obesity and diabetes in children, top footballers could be excellent role models for children, demonstrating the link between a good diet and health" said Annie seeley, the nutritionist for the Food Commission.
"But instead we see adverts showing players from Manchester United and Blackcurn Rovers drinking pepsi, the Premier League logo on walkers crisps, and the Football association encouraging children to eat chocolate and wear McDonald's football kit"
This article shows how advertising uses techniques to make children want to eat 'junk' food. This can lead to obesity and effect body image.
Saturday, 12 January 2008
Body image key to healthy habits BBC
Motivation
Both groups were then shown advertising posters on having a healthy breakfast - one urging children to slim down, the other providing educational information about the benefits of eating well.
Three-quarters of the children who had been asked to draw pictures of themselves said they felt encouraged to eat more healthily and do more exercise after seeing the adverts.
Getting young people to think about themselves frequently makes them much more receptive to campaigns giving information about how to eat more healthily
Ekant Veer
But of those who had not been asked to draw a picture, only 58% said the adverts had an effect.
Mr Veers, a marketing lecturer at the university, said the key message of the findings was that campaigns which portray a negative image of overweight people are not actually encouraging them to slim down.
Both groups were then shown advertising posters on having a healthy breakfast - one urging children to slim down, the other providing educational information about the benefits of eating well.
Three-quarters of the children who had been asked to draw pictures of themselves said they felt encouraged to eat more healthily and do more exercise after seeing the adverts.
Getting young people to think about themselves frequently makes them much more receptive to campaigns giving information about how to eat more healthily
Ekant Veer
But of those who had not been asked to draw a picture, only 58% said the adverts had an effect.
Mr Veers, a marketing lecturer at the university, said the key message of the findings was that campaigns which portray a negative image of overweight people are not actually encouraging them to slim down.
Junk food adverts
Advertisements for foods high in fat, sugar and salt have been banned by Ofcom during or around TV programmes made for children, or programmes that would particularly appeal to seven to nine year olds, since the start of this month.
Restrictions are due to be extended to children aged up to 15 next year, along with an outright ban on promoting junk food on dedicated children's channels.
'Greater influence'
CAP said there was no need for similar restrictions on ads in non-broadcast media.
A committee spokesman said: "All of the limited evidence that exists for the effect of advertising of food to children relates to TV and not to other media."
He added it was appropriate for broadcasters to face tougher rules because of the greater influence of TV.
Other groups that signed the letter to Ms Flint were the National Heart Forum, National Consumer Council, National Children's Bureau, National Federation of Women's Institutes, Diabetes UK, Sustain and Netmums.
Restrictions are due to be extended to children aged up to 15 next year, along with an outright ban on promoting junk food on dedicated children's channels.
'Greater influence'
CAP said there was no need for similar restrictions on ads in non-broadcast media.
A committee spokesman said: "All of the limited evidence that exists for the effect of advertising of food to children relates to TV and not to other media."
He added it was appropriate for broadcasters to face tougher rules because of the greater influence of TV.
Other groups that signed the letter to Ms Flint were the National Heart Forum, National Consumer Council, National Children's Bureau, National Federation of Women's Institutes, Diabetes UK, Sustain and Netmums.
Books on Body image
I read two books as part of my primary research: one called 'Body Image' By Sarah Rogan - Understanding body dissatisfaction men, women and children. This book helped me to learn more about what body image is according to the book Fisher 1990 said it is 'a persons perception, thoughts and feelings about his or her body'. This book contains research carried out in Britain and America therefore is more valid as it contains British perspective aswell as American. It contains various perspectives from psychology, sociology, women's studies and media studies. In section 5 of the book it says Media effects on body image, this helped me as it gave me information on the negative messeges that advertising conveys and also that advertising is very effective from a young age to even older ages. It says advertising creates body dissatisfactionfrom young children, from the age of 8 and upwards on their body image, this is more relevent in the western world, where body image is an important factor.
The second book I read was 'Advertising to children - Concepts and controversies' By M. Carole Macklin and Les Carlson. This book particularly helped me as it gave me a ideas about the ages that children believe adverts and the ages that advertising is more unrealistic to children. This helped me to carry out my primary research, as from the information provided on the ages of children, I tested children on ages that were relevant to my study. The research is carried out by the American academy of advertising. It said that advertisers are willing to spend large amounts on children, as they know the children's market is huge. According to Blatt, Spencer and Ward 1972, young children have little understanding of the persuasive intent of advertising, viewing it as informative, truthful and entertaining.
Studies were carried out to see if children are affected by advertising: Butter et al (1981) reported that 70% of his sample of 4 year olds and 90% of 5 year olds can tell the difference between a tv program and a commercial. He concludes that they are watching something different from a program but do not know that the intent of what they are watching is to invite them to purchase a product or a service.
Another study from this book was by Bever et al he said that after the age of 8, children no longer believe that commercials tell the truth. This is relevant to my topic as I wanted to carry out primary research on children who think advertising does affect them and I wanted to find out how this affects their body image.
The second book I read was 'Advertising to children - Concepts and controversies' By M. Carole Macklin and Les Carlson. This book particularly helped me as it gave me a ideas about the ages that children believe adverts and the ages that advertising is more unrealistic to children. This helped me to carry out my primary research, as from the information provided on the ages of children, I tested children on ages that were relevant to my study. The research is carried out by the American academy of advertising. It said that advertisers are willing to spend large amounts on children, as they know the children's market is huge. According to Blatt, Spencer and Ward 1972, young children have little understanding of the persuasive intent of advertising, viewing it as informative, truthful and entertaining.
Studies were carried out to see if children are affected by advertising: Butter et al (1981) reported that 70% of his sample of 4 year olds and 90% of 5 year olds can tell the difference between a tv program and a commercial. He concludes that they are watching something different from a program but do not know that the intent of what they are watching is to invite them to purchase a product or a service.
Another study from this book was by Bever et al he said that after the age of 8, children no longer believe that commercials tell the truth. This is relevant to my topic as I wanted to carry out primary research on children who think advertising does affect them and I wanted to find out how this affects their body image.
Monday, 7 January 2008
Advertising effects to children in other countries
Research on Television viewing of children in India
The west has a strong body of research on television viewing and also on how advertising on television affects children…but in India we have few reliable surveys on the subject.
One such rare survey on television viewing in India was carried out by the Mumbai Grahak Panchayat and funded by Consumers International Federation, a consumer body with affiliations with over 250 consumer organisations from all over the world. The survey was carried out in Mumbai and 1000 children in the 5-15 age group were sampled along with 300 parents. Four out of five families interviewed had a cable connection.
Children were easily influenced
The findings would make any food advertiser jubilant because it was found that testimonials by stars, and tacit promises of academic success on consumption of the advertised food went down well with kids. The survey revealed that that 33.3 per cent of the children felt that they would become successful or would score better marks by consuming the advertised foods, while 23.3 per cent of the parents believed the same.
The west has a strong body of research on television viewing and also on how advertising on television affects children…but in India we have few reliable surveys on the subject.
One such rare survey on television viewing in India was carried out by the Mumbai Grahak Panchayat and funded by Consumers International Federation, a consumer body with affiliations with over 250 consumer organisations from all over the world. The survey was carried out in Mumbai and 1000 children in the 5-15 age group were sampled along with 300 parents. Four out of five families interviewed had a cable connection.
Children were easily influenced
The findings would make any food advertiser jubilant because it was found that testimonials by stars, and tacit promises of academic success on consumption of the advertised food went down well with kids. The survey revealed that that 33.3 per cent of the children felt that they would become successful or would score better marks by consuming the advertised foods, while 23.3 per cent of the parents believed the same.
Definition of a child
Definitions vary the majority say that a child is aged to 12 years and turns into a teenager at 13 so is no longer considered a child. There are many definitions:
The legal definition of "child" varies from government to government, and has varied over time within the same government. It is interchangeable with minor.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as "every human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier".[3]
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child#Legal_definition)
For the purposes of the NESCPC Child Protection Guidelines, a child is defined as a person under 16 years of age.
Note: For persons over the age of 16 years there is no requirement to follow the NESCPC guidelines. However, where protective action is thought to be appropriate e.g. vulnerable young person/adult, the agencies involved may find some of the practices and principles underpinning the guidelines provide a helpful framework for considering how best to protect that person.
(http://www.nescpc.org.uk/nescpc/definition.html)
A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is child, preschool.
(http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd?child)
The legal definition of "child" varies from government to government, and has varied over time within the same government. It is interchangeable with minor.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as "every human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier".[3]
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child#Legal_definition)
For the purposes of the NESCPC Child Protection Guidelines, a child is defined as a person under 16 years of age.
Note: For persons over the age of 16 years there is no requirement to follow the NESCPC guidelines. However, where protective action is thought to be appropriate e.g. vulnerable young person/adult, the agencies involved may find some of the practices and principles underpinning the guidelines provide a helpful framework for considering how best to protect that person.
(http://www.nescpc.org.uk/nescpc/definition.html)
A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is child, preschool.
(http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd?child)
Friday, 30 November 2007
Advertising effects on body image - Junk food adverts
The advertising industry is hoping the government will not cave to pressure to introduce a pre-9pm ban on junk food TV advertising, after receiving an encouraging letter from public health minister Dawn Primarolo.
The letter, sent to Baroness Peta Buscombe, the chief executive of the Advertising Association, stated that the government's new obesity strategy would "draw heavily upon partnership".
The tone of the note and its suggestion of a collaborative approach have been taken by the industry as a sign that campaigners' calls for a pre-9pm ad ban will not railroad the government into any action without a full evidence-based process.
Media watchdog Ofcom has estimated that a blanket pre-watershed ban will cost £211m in lost ad revenues.
"We welcome the changes that food manufacturers have already made in advertising directed at children, and are keen to strengthen existing partnerships with the food and advertising industries," Primarolo wrote.
"The new obesity strategy will draw heavily upon partnership with a wide range of stakeholders, in which food advertising industries will undoubtedly play a key role.
"We are eager to address all aspects of the obesity problem, working in partnership with the private sector and society in general to make a real impact on the health of our nation."
Primarolo was responding to a query from the Advertising Association about the government's intentions.
The industry was alarmed last month after health secretary Alan Johnson said junk food ad restrictions should be extended to cover family programmes such as The X Factor.
The advertising industry argues that existing Ofcom restrictions go far enough.
These include a mechanism to assess which shows have an "above average" appeal to under-16s and therefore cannot run any junk food ads.
"I am tired of [advertising] being used as a scapegoat for some of society's genuine problems, and increasingly angry at the distorted arguments being used by some of its opponents," said Tess Alps, the chief executive of TV marketing body Thinkbox, at an advertising conference earlier this month.
"Nobody wants to see irresponsible advertising, including the overwhelming majority of advertisers. Advertising operates under a very successful co-regulation system.
"It adapts to changes in society so that it reflects current moral attitudes. What it does not do – and should never do – is knee-jerk to the agenda of single-interest groups".
The letter, sent to Baroness Peta Buscombe, the chief executive of the Advertising Association, stated that the government's new obesity strategy would "draw heavily upon partnership".
The tone of the note and its suggestion of a collaborative approach have been taken by the industry as a sign that campaigners' calls for a pre-9pm ad ban will not railroad the government into any action without a full evidence-based process.
Media watchdog Ofcom has estimated that a blanket pre-watershed ban will cost £211m in lost ad revenues.
"We welcome the changes that food manufacturers have already made in advertising directed at children, and are keen to strengthen existing partnerships with the food and advertising industries," Primarolo wrote.
"The new obesity strategy will draw heavily upon partnership with a wide range of stakeholders, in which food advertising industries will undoubtedly play a key role.
"We are eager to address all aspects of the obesity problem, working in partnership with the private sector and society in general to make a real impact on the health of our nation."
Primarolo was responding to a query from the Advertising Association about the government's intentions.
The industry was alarmed last month after health secretary Alan Johnson said junk food ad restrictions should be extended to cover family programmes such as The X Factor.
The advertising industry argues that existing Ofcom restrictions go far enough.
These include a mechanism to assess which shows have an "above average" appeal to under-16s and therefore cannot run any junk food ads.
"I am tired of [advertising] being used as a scapegoat for some of society's genuine problems, and increasingly angry at the distorted arguments being used by some of its opponents," said Tess Alps, the chief executive of TV marketing body Thinkbox, at an advertising conference earlier this month.
"Nobody wants to see irresponsible advertising, including the overwhelming majority of advertisers. Advertising operates under a very successful co-regulation system.
"It adapts to changes in society so that it reflects current moral attitudes. What it does not do – and should never do – is knee-jerk to the agenda of single-interest groups".
Tuesday, 20 November 2007
Young girls
Girls from a young age are targetted by advertising, they are easily influenced as they are concious about their body image. Girls want to look beautiful and from a young age they are shown beautiful women such as barbie which then as they grow become role models of how they would want to look like. Media has a huge impact on young girls during their stages of growing up. "It is evident from examining the literature that familial and social influences have a strong impact on girls' self esteem and body image disturbances. Studies suggest that the yearning to become thin or maintain a certain body weight has been established in girls as young as age 7 or 8.[4] In an interview conducted among 8 year-old girls, "they agreed that they wanted to be thin, both now and when they grew up[;] when asked whether they worried about how they looked, they said they worried about getting fat." Taken from http://www.ecclectica.ca/issues/2006/1/index.asp?Article=26
Media effects on girls body image
Some research suggests that media images contribute to the rise in the incidence of eating disorders. Most women in advertising, movies, TV, and sports programs are very thin, and this may lead girls to think that the ideal of beauty is thinness. Boys, too, may try to emulate a media ideal by drastically restricting their eating and compulsively exercising.
Research carried out on how advertising effects childrens body image by making them eat the wrong types of foods.
Nutritional Content of Foods Advertised During the Television Programs Children Watch Most
Kristen Harrison, PhD and Amy L. Marske, MA
Kristen Harrison is with the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. At the time of the study, Amy L Marske was a student in the Department of Speech Communication at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Kristen Harrison, Department of Speech Communication, University of Illinois, 244 Lincoln Hall, 702 South Wright Street, Urbana IL 61801 (e-mail: krishar@uiuc.edu).
Objectives. We sought to code food (nutritional content and food type and eating occasion) and character (cartoon and live action) attributes of food advertisements airing during television programs heavily viewed by children, and to represent and evaluate the nutritional content of advertised foods in terms of the nutrition facts label.
Methods. Food advertisements (n=426) aimed at general and child audiences were coded for food and character attributes. "Nutrition Facts" label data for advertised foods (n=275) were then analyzed.
Results. Convenience/fast foods and sweets comprised 83% of advertised foods. Snacktime eating was depicted more often than breakfast, lunch, and dinner combined. Apparent character body size was unrelated to eating behavior. A 2000-calorie diet of foods in the general-audience advertisements would exceed recommended daily values (RDVs) of total fat, saturated fat, and sodium. A similar diet of foods in the child-audience advertisements would exceed the sodium RDV and provide 171 g (nearly 1 cup) of added sugar.
Conclusions. Snack, convenience, and fast foods and sweets continue to dominate food advertisements viewed by children. Advertised foods exceed RDVs of fat, saturated fat, and sodium, yet fail to provide RDVs of fiber and certain vitamins and minerals.
Kristen Harrison, PhD and Amy L. Marske, MA
Kristen Harrison is with the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. At the time of the study, Amy L Marske was a student in the Department of Speech Communication at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Kristen Harrison, Department of Speech Communication, University of Illinois, 244 Lincoln Hall, 702 South Wright Street, Urbana IL 61801 (e-mail: krishar@uiuc.edu).
Objectives. We sought to code food (nutritional content and food type and eating occasion) and character (cartoon and live action) attributes of food advertisements airing during television programs heavily viewed by children, and to represent and evaluate the nutritional content of advertised foods in terms of the nutrition facts label.
Methods. Food advertisements (n=426) aimed at general and child audiences were coded for food and character attributes. "Nutrition Facts" label data for advertised foods (n=275) were then analyzed.
Results. Convenience/fast foods and sweets comprised 83% of advertised foods. Snacktime eating was depicted more often than breakfast, lunch, and dinner combined. Apparent character body size was unrelated to eating behavior. A 2000-calorie diet of foods in the general-audience advertisements would exceed recommended daily values (RDVs) of total fat, saturated fat, and sodium. A similar diet of foods in the child-audience advertisements would exceed the sodium RDV and provide 171 g (nearly 1 cup) of added sugar.
Conclusions. Snack, convenience, and fast foods and sweets continue to dominate food advertisements viewed by children. Advertised foods exceed RDVs of fat, saturated fat, and sodium, yet fail to provide RDVs of fiber and certain vitamins and minerals.
Wednesday, 29 August 2007
Medias effects on childrens body image
"Media's Effect On Girls: Body Image And Gender Identity
Did you know?
Gender identity begins in toddlerhood (identifying self as a girl or boy) with gender roles being assigned to tasks early in the preschool years (Durkin, 1998).
A child's body image develops as the result of many influences:
A newborn begins immediately to explore what her body feels like and can do. This process continues her whole life.
A child's body image is influenced by how people around her react to her body and how she looks.
A pre-adolescent becomes increasingly aware of what society's standards are for the "ideal body."
Media's Effect on Body Image
The popular media (television, movies, magazines, etc.) have, since World War II, increasingly held up a thinner and thinner body (and now ever more physically fit) image as the ideal for women. The ideal man is also presented as trim, but muscular.
In a survey of girls 9 and 10 years old, 40% have tried to lose weight, according to an ongoing study funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (USA Today, 1996).
A 1996 study found that the amount of time an adolescent watches soaps, movies and music videos is associated with their degree of body dissatisfaction and desire to be thin (Tiggemann & Pickering, 1996).
One author reports that at age thirteen, 53% of American girls are "unhappy with their bodies." This grows to 78% by the time girls reach seventeen (Brumberg, 1997).
In a study among undergraduates media consumption was positively associated with a strive for thinness among men and body dissatisfaction among women (Harrison & Cantor, 1997).
Teen-age girls who viewed commercials depicting women who modeled the unrealistically thin-ideal type of beauty caused adolescent girls to feel less confident, more angry and more dissatisfied with their weight and appearance (Hargreaves, 2002).
In a study on fifth graders, 10 year old girls and boys told researchers they were dissatisfied with their own bodies after watching a music video by Britney Spears or a clip from the TV show "Friends" (Mundell, 2002).
In another recent study on media's impact on adolescent body dissatisfaction, two researchers found that:
Teens who watched soaps and TV shows that emphasized the ideal body typed reported higher sense of body dissatisfaction. This was also true for girls who watched music videos.
Reading magazines for teen girls or women also correlated with body dissatisfaction for girls.
Identification with television stars (for girls and boys), and models (girls) or athletes (boys), positively correlated with body dissatisfaction (Hofschire & Greenberg, 2002"
Click on title to find out more thanks.
Did you know?
Gender identity begins in toddlerhood (identifying self as a girl or boy) with gender roles being assigned to tasks early in the preschool years (Durkin, 1998).
A child's body image develops as the result of many influences:
A newborn begins immediately to explore what her body feels like and can do. This process continues her whole life.
A child's body image is influenced by how people around her react to her body and how she looks.
A pre-adolescent becomes increasingly aware of what society's standards are for the "ideal body."
Media's Effect on Body Image
The popular media (television, movies, magazines, etc.) have, since World War II, increasingly held up a thinner and thinner body (and now ever more physically fit) image as the ideal for women. The ideal man is also presented as trim, but muscular.
In a survey of girls 9 and 10 years old, 40% have tried to lose weight, according to an ongoing study funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (USA Today, 1996).
A 1996 study found that the amount of time an adolescent watches soaps, movies and music videos is associated with their degree of body dissatisfaction and desire to be thin (Tiggemann & Pickering, 1996).
One author reports that at age thirteen, 53% of American girls are "unhappy with their bodies." This grows to 78% by the time girls reach seventeen (Brumberg, 1997).
In a study among undergraduates media consumption was positively associated with a strive for thinness among men and body dissatisfaction among women (Harrison & Cantor, 1997).
Teen-age girls who viewed commercials depicting women who modeled the unrealistically thin-ideal type of beauty caused adolescent girls to feel less confident, more angry and more dissatisfied with their weight and appearance (Hargreaves, 2002).
In a study on fifth graders, 10 year old girls and boys told researchers they were dissatisfied with their own bodies after watching a music video by Britney Spears or a clip from the TV show "Friends" (Mundell, 2002).
In another recent study on media's impact on adolescent body dissatisfaction, two researchers found that:
Teens who watched soaps and TV shows that emphasized the ideal body typed reported higher sense of body dissatisfaction. This was also true for girls who watched music videos.
Reading magazines for teen girls or women also correlated with body dissatisfaction for girls.
Identification with television stars (for girls and boys), and models (girls) or athletes (boys), positively correlated with body dissatisfaction (Hofschire & Greenberg, 2002"
Click on title to find out more thanks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)