Association between food marketing exposure and consumption of confectioneries among pre-school children in Jakarta

ABSTRACT

@# Introduction: Prevalence of obesity among pre-school children in Indonesia is increasing. Since food advertisements reach all age groups, this study was conducted to assess the association between food marketing exposure and children’s consumption of confectioneries at home. Methods: Two hundred and forty caregivers of children aged 3-5 years attending 25 early childhood education centres in Central Jakarta, were interviewed in this cross-sectional study. A structured food frequency questionnaire was used to determine food marketing exposure and child dietary consumption. Chi-square tests compared consumption of confectioneries with different levels of marketing exposure. Results: Out of a total 240 caregivers, most were mothers of the study children (79.2%) and other family members (19.2%). The majority of the caregivers did not work (81.7%), and <15.0% had graduated from university, while 42.0% lived with extended family members. The top ten confectioneries consumed by the children included chocolate wafer crisp, chocolate stick and soft candy. Among the most common food marketing practices were as advertisements on public transport, print and electronic media. The significant associations between four food marketing practices and consumption of eight types of confectioneries were key findings of this study. Receiving food promotion through short message service (SMS) was not significantly associated with consumption of the top ten confectioneries. Conclusion: A positive association was found between food marketing practices and consumption of confectioneries by pre-school children in Central Jakarta. An appropriate policy on food advertisements that targets children combined with parental food education is recommended for improving food consumption habits of young children.