Children's exposure to unhealthy food advertising on Philippine television: content analysis of marketing strategies and temporal patterns

Background: This study conducted an exploratory content analysis of TV food advertisements on the top three most popular channels for Filipino children aged two to 17 during school and non-school days. Methods: Data were collected by manually recording of aired advertisements from 16 non-school days (July to September 2020) and 16 school days (January to April 2021). Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were used to assess children's rates of exposure to food advertisements (mean +/- SD of advertisements aired per channel per hour), the healthiness of promoted foods (as permitted (healthier) or not permitted (unhealthy) according to nutrient profiling models from the World Health Organization), and persuasive techniques used in food advertisements, including promotional characters and premium offers. Results: The results show that the rates of exposure to food advertisements were higher during school days (14.6 +/- 14.8) than on non-school days (11.9 +/- 12.0) (p < 0.01). Both periods yield a similarly higher proportion of non-permitted food advertisements (e.g. 9.3 +/- 9.7 ads/channel/hour for school days and 8.3 +/- 8.5 ads/channel/hour for non-school days) than permitted ones. More non-permitted food advertisements during children's peak viewing times were observed than non-peak viewing times (e.g. 11.8 +/- 10. vs. 8.3 +/- 9.2 ads/channel/hour for school days). Non-permitted food advertisements employed persuasive techniques more frequently, accounting for 64-91% of all food ads during peak viewing times. Conclusion: Children are exposed to a large volume of television advertisements for foods that should not be permitted to be marketed to children based on authoritative nutrient criteria.