Impact of Food Advertisements Through Electronic Media on Choices of Food Preferences in Children

Electronic media provides the most advanced information about foods and food brands. The impact of food related advertisements dramatically affects the eating habits of young children. Different brands are preferably affecting food related choices of youngsters. Brand preference affects the actual eating patterns. Objective: To know the impact of food advertisements through electronic media on choices of food preferences in children. Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study at Sir Ganga Ram hospital, Lahore was conducted. 100 children aged between 3 to 12 years suffering from dental caries were selected through simple random sampling technique from April to July 2017. Results: 64% children spent most of their time on watching TV. 80% of them watched food related advertisements on electronic media and got inspired by the foods that were more advertised. Children loved to watch cartoon animated advertisements and tend to buy those food items. 94% children loved market based foods and avoided homemade food items. Conclusions: Present study revealed that children who watched TV for longer time span and preferred to watch food related advertisements and then always purchased the food products those were more commercialized. Children preferred to consume market based food items those were more advertised. There was a strong relationship between watching TV and food preferences. Keywords: Oral health, Milk teeth, Permanent teeth, Dental caries