Food and eating on television: impacts and influences Available to Purchase

Describes the background to and main findings from a three‐year MAFF‐funded research project on the role of television in the food choices of young people. The project examined the nature and extent of television’s portrayal of food and eating and investigated young people’s interpretations of this. The findings indicate that food and eating are portrayed very frequently on UK television, but that the “message” in programmes contrasts with the “message” in advertising in terms of the nutritional content of the foods depicted. This disorder and contradiction are reflected in young viewers’ accounts of their own eating habits.