TV food advertisements' effect on food consumption and adiposity among women and children in Mexico

Background: The objective of the study was to assess the association between TV foods advertisements and the ones consumed by mothers and children, and the body weight of both mother and child, among population from different SES in two Mexican cities. Methods: During June through October 2011 in Tijuana and Tuxtla Gutierrez, two national broadcasted channels were recorded during a period of 5 h in the afternoon on working days. Direct interviews were conducted to explore the foods consumed by mothers and their children from january to july 2012. To identify the difference in the number of hours of TV watching, number of TV sets, and the number of advertisements they recalled, a one-way ANOVA was used. Results: An association was observed between the consumption of advertised foods by mothers and the frequency of broadcasted advertising. It was also observed that there was an association between the hours watching TV and BMI of the mothers and BMI Z-score of their children. Conclusions: There was an association between BMI of the mothers and their children and time spent watching TV. The high exposure to TV food advertisements in Mexico may increase the odds for having childhood obesity.