Vulnerability of Minors to the Influence of Television Food Advertising: Parental Perspectives

The primary objective of this study was to investigate how parents in the eThekwini region perceive food advertising targeted at minors on television. The study also aimed to understand the impact of television food promotions on minor’s eating habits and food preferences from the parent’s perspective. The potential implications of this study's findings on marketing strategies, particularly those targeting children, are significant and could lead to a shift in advertising practices. This quantitative cross-sectional study, which involved a nonprobability sampling method, specifically convenience sampling, focused on a subset of the larger eThekwini population, particularly 400 parents with minors residing in the region. The data was analyzed using SPSS Version 27 software, employing descriptive statistics to summarize the findings. The study revealed that many respondents are highly concerned about food advertising on children’s television shows. In particular, 94.1% of respondents believe that there are too many food advertisements in programs aimed at minors, indicating that they feel excessive food marketing targets children. Additionally, 94.4% of respondents expressed concerns about food product advertising, especially the use of celebrities to promote food items. Reliability was assessed by calculating Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, which produced scores of 0.814 and 0.929, respectively. These results demonstrate a high level of reliability for the measuring instrument used in the study. It is recommended that governments introduce stringent regulations to discourage the marketing and promotion of food products to minors, focusing instead on promoting healthy eating and overall well-being. Importantly, regulations are urgently needed to encourage food manufacturers to improve child-targeted advertising and help combat childhood obesity.