Healthy Cartoons?

Studies have found consistently that children's television has negative health consequences for children. However, the adverse effects have been attributed to the physical passivity inherent in watching television and to the commercials for foods of low nutritional quality, not to the content of the programs themselves. This article describes a content analysis of the food references in children's cartoons from three cable and two broadcast networks. In contrast to the nutritional quality of foods typically referenced in the commercials aired during such shows, the foods referenced within the children's programs were of notably higher nutritional quality, particularly with respect to fruits and vegetables. Because digital video recorders (DVRs) enable viewers to skip television commercials more easily than when using older technology, these results suggest that children may see more positive nutritional messages if adults use DVRs to supervise their viewing of children's television programs.