Digital Food Marketing to Young People: A Substantial Public Health Challenge

Boyland, Emma; Torgerson, David; Mazur, Artur; Ring-Dimitriou, Susanne; Frelut, Marie-Laure; Weghuber, Daniel

doi:10.1159/000506413

Cited by 49 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…It is worth highlighting that half of the posts intended to promote the brand, without making any specific reference to specific products. A branding approach to food marketing has been already reported for both traditional and digital advertising (16,41) . This approach can increase recall and recognition of the brands and create positive associations, which subsequently increases purchase intention of the products commercialised by the brands (13,42) .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In order to capture all the digital marketing children may be exposed to, regulations on digital marketing of ultra-processed foods should also include marketing targeted at mixed audiences. This is particularly relevant considering that effects of digital marketing are expected to be exacerbated by word-of-mouth effects, as users can share the content generated by the brands (15)(16)(17)(18) . Policymakers should be aware that regulation of digital marketing targeted at the wide audience is expected to face fierce opposition due to concerns over infringement of legal rights of companies and censorship of commercial expression (48,49) .…”

Section: Policy Implications Of the Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the last decade, the contribution of digital marketing to the marketing mix of food companies has grown, partly motivated by the increased popularity of social media and content-sharing platforms (15,16) . This type of marketing is characterised by its ubiquity, uninterrupted availability and interactivity, which makes it more persuasive and impactful than traditional marketing (17,18) .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Results are expected to provide relevant insights for policymakers given increasing concerns over digital marketing of unhealthy foods, particularly when targeted at children and adolescents (16,30,31) . Although some governments have implemented policies to protect children from the harmful effects of marketing of unhealthy foods, most of the policies are not comprehensive in nature and do not apply to social media or are not clearly designed (32,33) .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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COVID-washing of ultra-processed products: the content of digital marketing on Facebook during the COVID-19 pandemic in Uruguay

Antúnez

Alcaire

Brunet

et al. 2021

Public Health Nutr.

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Objective: To explore the use of references to the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the marketing strategies used on Facebook to promote ultra-processed products. Design: A search for Facebook accounts of ultra-processed products was performed using a master list of products commercialized in two online supermarkets in Uruguay. For each of the identified Facebook accounts, all the content posted from the confirmation of the first cases of COVID-19 in Uruguay, on March 14th, 2020, until July 1st, 2020 was recorded. Posts including mentions to COVID-19, social distancing measures or their consequences were identified and analyzed using content analysis. Setting: Uruguay, Latin America. Results: A total of 135 Facebook accounts were identified, which generated a total of 1749 posts related to ultra-processed products, from which 35% included references to COVID-19. The majority of the posts included references to prevention measures. Approximately one third of the posts included proposals of activities to do at home, most of which were linked to a healthy lifestyle. Tips for coping with quarantine and descriptions of the charitable work undertaken by brands were also identified. Conclusions: Results from the present work provide evidence that industries of ultra-processed products have taken advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to promote their products, create positive associations with the brands and improve their image as part of their digital marketing strategies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Policy Implications Of the Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

COVID-washing of ultra-processed products: the content of digital marketing on Facebook during the COVID-19 pandemic in Uruguay

Antúnez

Alcaire

Brunet

et al. 2021

Public Health Nutr.

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“…However, it is not yet clear whether mobile device use impacts childhood obesity risk as much as television does, particularly given that such devices are often used to access streaming video content, which may result in different exposures compared with traditional television. 52 There is a near-absence of research on food and beverage marketing exposure on digital devices or interventions to limit use, limiting our ability to estimate the cost-effectiveness of interventions focused on use of mobile devices. At the same time, children still spend substantial amounts of time viewing television.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Limiting Television to Reduce Childhood Obesity: Cost-Effectiveness of Five Population Strategies

et al. 2021

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Objective: To quantify the potential population-wide costs, number of individuals reached, and impact on obesity of five effective interventions to reduce children's television viewing if implemented nationally.Study Design: Utilizing evidence from systematic reviews, the Childhood Obesity Intervention Cost Effectiveness Study (CHOICES) microsimulation model estimated the cost, population reach, and impact on childhood obesity from 2020 to 2030 of five hypothetical policy strategies to reduce the negative impact of children's TV exposure: (1) eliminating the tax deductibility of food and beverage advertising; (2) targeting TV reduction during home visiting programs; (3) motivational interviewing to reduce home television time at Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) clinic visits; (4) adoption of a television-reduction curriculum in child care; and (5) limiting noneducational television in licensed child care settings.Results: Eliminating the tax deductibility of food advertising could reach the most children [106 million, 95% uncertainty interval (UI): 105-107 million], prevent the most cases of obesity (78,700, 95% UI: 30,200-130,000), and save more in health care costs than it costs to implement. Strategies targeting young children in child care and WIC also cost little to implement (between $0.19 and $32.73 per child reached), and, although reaching fewer children because of the restricted age range, were estimated to prevent between 25,500 (95% UI: 4600-59,300) and 35,400 (95% UI: 13,200-62,100) cases of obesity. Home visiting to reduce television viewing had high costs and a low reach.Conclusions: Interventions to reduce television exposure across a range of settings, if implemented widely, could help prevent childhood obesity in the population at relatively low cost.

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Nutrition and childhood

2021

Nutrition, Health and Disease

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Digital Food Marketing to Young People: A Substantial Public Health Challenge

Cited by 49 publications

References 25 publications

COVID-washing of ultra-processed products: the content of digital marketing on Facebook during the COVID-19 pandemic in Uruguay

COVID-washing of ultra-processed products: the content of digital marketing on Facebook during the COVID-19 pandemic in Uruguay

Limiting Television to Reduce Childhood Obesity: Cost-Effectiveness of Five Population Strategies

Nutrition and childhood

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