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The purpose of this paper is to analyse the nutritional content of recipes prepared in popular children’s television (TV) cooking shows.

A cross-sectional analysis of 150 recipes focusing on calorie, total fat and carbohydrates, saturated fatty acids, fibre, sugar, protein and salt content was performed. Main course recipes were evaluated against the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA), and the proportions of energy derived from each nutrient were evaluated against the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations.

While a significant proportion met the FSA and WHO recommendations for energy and salt, 58 per cent were above the FSA recommendation for total fat (χ²=5.598, p=0.01), 56 per cent failed to meet the recommendations for saturated fatty acids (χ²=4.551, p=0.03) and 60 per cent exceeded the FSA protein recommendations (χ²=12.602, p<0.001). Only 17 and 21 per cent of the recipes met the minimum recommendations for carbohydrates (χ²=30.429, p<0.001) and fibre (χ²=16.909, p<0.001), respectively. Only 37 per cent had adequate portion of fruits and vegetables. The nutritional content varied depending on the composition of the recipes; vegetarian recipes were more likely to meet the recommendations than poultry, meat or fish recipes.

Foods displayed by children’s popular TV cooking show fall short of the standards for healthy eating, thus warranting further research on how these shows affect eating behaviour.

This study is the first to consider children’s TV cooking shows as a platform of exposure to unhealthy foods.

Explore what popular food influencers among Flemish emerging adults portray in their Instagram recipe posts in terms of (1) references to food literacy, (2) nutritional value, (3) rational and emotional appeals and (4) the relation between the nutritional value and rational/emotional appeals.

A content and nutritional analysis of Instagram recipe posts from seven food influencers (N = 166).

Findings reveal that food influencers rarely embed references to food literacy in their recipe posts, especially regarding meal planning, food selection, meal consumption and evaluating food-related information. Only in 28.9% of the posts information was given on how to prepare a recipe. Second, 220 recipes were included in the 166 recipe posts, of which the majority (65%) were main course meals that met at least six of the 11 nutrient criteria for a healthy main meal (67.2%). Finally, food influencers promote their recipe posts as positive narratives, focusing on the tastiness (66%) and convenience (40.9%) of meals.

This is the first study to evaluate what food influencers post nutritionally in their Instagram recipes, as well as how they promote these recipes. Health promotors should note the influential role of food influencers and seek ways to collaborate to provide information on how food literacy cues can be embedded in influencers' communications and provide insights into how influencers' recipes can be optimised.