Top sports leagues heavily promote unhealthy food and beverages, new study finds: Millions of children and adolescents view sports programs associated with unhealthy food and beverage sponsors -- ScienceDaily
Top sports leagues heavily promote unhealthy food and beverages, new study finds: Millions of children and adolescents view sports programs associated with unhealthy food and beverage sponsors -- ScienceDaily: The descriptive study publishes online March 26 in the peer-reviewed journal Pediatrics.
Researchers analyzed Nielsen statistics of televised sports programs among children 2-17 years of age. The study found that, among the 10 most watched sports organizations (e.g. NFL), most of the food products were rated "unhealthy" under the guidelines of the Nutrient Profile Model, a profiling system that identifies nutritious value in the United Kingdom and Australia. (The U.S. does not have a comparable measurement system.)
Specifically, the NPM system assigns a score to all foods, and scores can be converted to a 0-100 point scale called the Nutrient Profile Index (NPI). An NPI of 64 or higher indicates a food product as "nutritious." When NPI scoring was applied to foods most widely promoted through sports sponsorships, the researchers found a deeply troubling result: More than three-quarters failed to meet minimal standards for nutrition -- with the average NPI score of around 38-39 for promoted foods such as potato chips and sugary cereals.
Researchers analyzed Nielsen statistics of televised sports programs among children 2-17 years of age. The study found that, among the 10 most watched sports organizations (e.g. NFL), most of the food products were rated "unhealthy" under the guidelines of the Nutrient Profile Model, a profiling system that identifies nutritious value in the United Kingdom and Australia. (The U.S. does not have a comparable measurement system.)
Specifically, the NPM system assigns a score to all foods, and scores can be converted to a 0-100 point scale called the Nutrient Profile Index (NPI). An NPI of 64 or higher indicates a food product as "nutritious." When NPI scoring was applied to foods most widely promoted through sports sponsorships, the researchers found a deeply troubling result: More than three-quarters failed to meet minimal standards for nutrition -- with the average NPI score of around 38-39 for promoted foods such as potato chips and sugary cereals.