Media's Roles in Food and Nutrition
Urban Poverty, Food Insecurity, and Childhood Malnutrition: Evidence from Vulnerable Populations in Quito, Ecuador
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Megan Hinrichsen
Malnutrition is a primary cause of child mortality and morbidity in developing countries, especially during the first five years of life. Over one-third of all child deaths within the first five years of life have an underlying cause of malnutrition. Ecuador is a country with a well-documented history of inadequate nutrition for all children but the effects of malnutrition are most pronounced in their growing, vulnerable populations living in marginal urban communities. In this study of over 300 children raised in conditions of unpredictable poverty, children suffer nutritional failures that are far above the national averages. These measurements reflect the vulnerability of children living in conditions of urban poverty in Ecuador and around the world. Anthropometric health measurements show the chronic and short-term everyday nutritional and health crises faced by 120 households in this study and how their childhood food insecurity and poverty are permanently recorded on their bodies.
Marketing Nutrition in Fast Food Advertising and Priming Effects on Consumers
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jennifer Chung, Dietram Scheufele
With growing concerns over the prevalence of obesity, there has been increasing regulation of food marketing and nutrition labeling. While many factors can be attributed to this epidemic, fast food consumption has been targeted as one of the key players. In the United States, the government has attempted to address this issue by requiring calorie displays at larger food retail establishments. The latest federal mandate requires chain restaurants and related establishments to post calorie information on all menus and menu boards by May 2018. To understand the potential impact of this change in a more realistic manner, we designed an experiment that considered the interplay between menus and advertising since many consumers are exposed to some level of marketing by the establishment prior to their purchase. Participants from a large Midwestern university (N=375, 94% retention rate) were asked to view a set of stimulus materials containing one advertisement, with or without nutrition information, and one menu, with calorie counts ranging from low, medium to high. Then, they were asked to complete a questionnaire, which we used to explore consumers’ attentiveness to nutrition, attitudes towards brands, and potential changes in consumption behaviors. Initial findings show that consumer attitudes are more positive toward the brand when exposed to advertisements with nutrition based claims and to menus with overall lower calorie foods. In addition, the average amount of calories consumed in one meal are primarily determined by the type of menu and the overall level of calories present.
FoodTube: Gender and Sexuality in Online Cooking Shows
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Katharina Vester
North American TV cooking shows have traditionally depicted gender and sexuality in surprisingly conservative ways. Even today, female hosts may cook for children and husbands in 1950s inspired kitchens, while male hosts prepare their food in bachelor pads for their friends coming over for a game. YouTube cooking shows, continuously growing in popularity over the last decade, provided an opportunity to depict non-heteronormative lifestyles and gender in progressive way. But many YouTube cooking shows instead attempt to imitate TV shows, including their representation of gender and sexuality, to reach the broadest possible audience. A few shows, however, playfully experiment with representations of gender and sexuality. Shows such as My Drunk Kitchen, Cooking with Lesbians or even the macho Epic Meal Time question traditional gender ideals, the gender binary, and the heterosexual economy that is traditionally at the core of the TV cooking show. This paper explores the gender play of these YouTube shows and their political potential as well as the ways in which they reproduce hegemonic notions of gender and sexuality.
Second-hand Baby Food Advertisements: The Digital Selling and Acquisition of Food on Kijiji in Canada
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Lesley Frank
Kijiji is the most popular Canadian online advertising service that facilitates the exchange of "second-hand" goods and research indicates that baby items are the third most exchanged goods. Infant food makes up a considerable portion of these goods, revealing an emerging digital second-hand food economy that exists outside of commercial and regulated foodscapes. This paper reports on research conducted on this second-hand economy, based on a collection of images and ads retrieved from Kijiji from May 2017 to March 2018 throughout the country. Content analysis of the ads was conducted to document the type of food, stated reasons for the ad (selling or food wanted), price, and condition of the product. Revealing much more than what people might no longer need to feed their baby, the results show the value of infant food as an exchange commodity within certain social groups. At times, the ads represent a sharing economy, when posters appear motivated to avoid waste. At other times, the ads appear to be a way to earn income from free samples obtained by direct-to-parent marketing of baby foods (in violation of the WHO International Code for the Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes). In either case these digital representations tell us the most about emerging strategies caregivers are employing to maximize income and/or needed food in response to poverty and household food insecurity.
