The new TV diet - evaluating the effect of the UK 2007 OfCom restrictions on television food advertising to children

近年来，英国等国家超重或肥胖儿童的比例大幅增加。有证据表明，电视上的食品广告会影响孩子们的饮食习惯。因此，电视食品广告可能会导致健康儿童超重、肥胖和相关疾病的发展。虽然电视广告中的食品种类繁多（如早餐麦片、咸零食和快餐），但目前关于广告中食品的确切营养成分（如脂肪、蛋白质和碳水化合物的比例）的信息很少。也不知道不同年龄、性别和社会背景的人是否倾向于观看不同数量和类型的电视食品广告。限制在儿童期间高脂肪、高盐和高糖食品的广告？2007年4月，英国开始分阶段实施该计划。由于英国是第一个就儿童电视食品广告引入此类规定的国家，因此，这些规定对电视上的食品广告的影响，以及对谁和何时的影响尚不清楚。我们将使用电视广播公司提供的关于2006年10月至2009年7月期间四个不同星期内播放了哪些广告以及谁观看了这些广告的信息。我们会把这个和食品制造商联系起来吗？的信息的营养成分的食品广告，以回答四个研究问题：什么是营养成分的食品广告在英国电视（？电视减肥法？）在2007年条例实施之前、期间和之后？在这些时间点上，电视饮食有什么变化吗？电视饮食是否因观众的年龄、性别和社会背景而有所不同？如果是，这些在不同的时间点是否有变化？是否遵守了2007年的规定？我们的研究结果将有助于评估、审查和修订针对儿童的电视食品广告的新规定。研究小组包括流行病学、公共卫生、营养和肥胖方面的学术专家。该团队已经在这一领域进行了先前的研究，并已经开发了将用于这项工作的方法。这项研究将与在加拿大进行的类似工作同时进行，加拿大最近开始实行关于向儿童做电视食品广告的新的自愿协议。

The proportion of children who are overweight or obese in countries like the UK has increased substantially in recent years. There is evidence that food advertisements on television influence what children prefer to eat. Television food advertising may, therefore, contribute to the development of overweight, obesity and related conditions in otherwise healthy children. Whilst the broad types of food advertised on television are known (e.g. breakfast cereals, salty snacks and fast food), there is currently little information available on the exact nutritional content of foods that are advertised (e.g. the proportion of fat, protein and carbohydrate). Nor is it known if individuals of different ages, gender and social background tend to watch different amounts and types of television food advertisements. Restrictions on the advertising of foods high in fat, salt and sugar during children?s programmes began to be phased in in the UK in April 2007. As the UK is the first country to introduce such regulations on television food advertising to children, their effects on what foods are advertised on television, to whom and when are not known. We will use information supplied by television broadcasters on what advertisements were broadcast, and who watched them, during four separate weeks between October 2006 and July 2009. We will link this to food manufacturer?s information on the nutritional content of foods advertised to answer four research questions: what was the nutritional content of foods advertised on UK television (the ?TV diet?) before, during and after implementation of the 2007 regulations?; were there any changes in the TV diet across these time points?; were there differences in the TV diet according to the age, sex and social background of viewers and, if so, did these vary across the time points?; were the 2007 regulations adhered to? Our results will help in the evaluation, review and revision of the new regulations on television food advertising to children.The research team includes academic specialists in epidemiologist, public health, nutrition and obesity. The team has conducted previous research in this area and already developed the methods that will be used in this work. The research will be conducted at the same time as similar work in Canada, where new voluntary agreements on television food advertising to children have recently been introduced.