The Health Promotion Agency (HPA) monitors parents and caregivers’ opinions on food marketing to children in the Health and Lifestyles Survey (HLS). Results from the 2012 HLS are presented below. Parents and caregivers were asked how much they generally support or oppose a ban on food advertising at times when children watch TV. The response options include “strongly support”, “support”, “neither support nor oppose”.
Methodology
Parents and caregivers were asked how much they generally support or oppose "a ban on food advertising at times when children watch TV". The response options include "strongly support", "support", "neither support nor oppose", "oppose", "strongly oppose", "don’t know", or "refused".
For the purpose of analyses by population sub-groups, responses were grouped into two categories: support or neither/oppose.
Refusals and "don’t know" responses were removed. The following demographic factors were analysed to determine whether there are any differences in support of the ban:
• gender
• ethnicity (Māori, Pacific, Asian, European/Other)
• age (15 to 24 years, 25 to 34 years, 35 to 44 years, 45 to 54 years, 55 and above)
• neighbourhood deprivation status (Low: NZDep 1 to 3, Mid: NZDep 4 to 7, High: NZDep 8 to 10)
• educational status (No formal qualification, Secondary school, Trade/Professional/Undergraduate diploma, Bachelor’s Degree/Postgraduate).
Parents and caregivers who responded that they support or strongly support a ban were also asked "What times would you choose to ban food advertising?". The start time and end time of the ban were recorded in 30 minute intervals, and up to three time periods were collected. For reporting purposes, times were grouped into segments of 1.5 to 2 hours.
Only those group differences that are statistically significant (p < 0.05) are reported.
Key Results
• Just over a third of parents/caregivers strongly support (12.1%) or support (25.7%) a ban on TV food advertising to children. One quarter oppose (24.0%) or strongly oppose (1.4%) a ban while the remaining (35.6%) neither support nor oppose it.
• Parents/caregivers of European/Other ethnicity are more likely to support a ban (41.9%) compared with Pacific people (28.5%).
• The times of day most frequently reported for the ban to start are 1:00pm to 3:00pm (55.7%), followed by 3:30pm to 5:30pm (34.4%) and 5:30am to 7:30am (21.3%).
• The times of day most frequently reported for the ban to finish are 6:00pm to 8:00pm (65.4%), followed by 8:30pm to 10:30pm (21.7%).