Obesity and other health issues are inevitable outcomes of the modern food environment where marketing of inexpensive, highly palatable, energy-dense foods and beverages is pervasive. Especially concerning is the targeting of children and teens. Globally, the prevalence of obesity has risen dramatically among children aged 5–19 years, from 4% in 1975 to 18% in 2016.
And, the food industry is playing the long game. Obesity in childhood tends to track into adulthood, so millions of children will potentially become obese adults. Unhealthy food habits become deeply ingrained as food companies spend billions of dollars conditioning children and teens to become ‘customers-for-life’ through extensive, sophisticated, persuasive marketing campaigns.
In 2016, food, beverage and restaurant companies spent almost $14 billion on advertising in the US alone. More than 80% of that ‘spend’ promoted fast food, sugary drinks, candy, and unhealthy snacks, dwarfing the $1 billion budget for all chronic disease prevention and health promotion at the US CDC. The US food system is the second largest advertiser in the American economy, and it aggressively targets adolescents to build brand awareness, preferences (mainly for unhealthy foods) and loyalty.
A study from the University of Ottawa found that nearly three-quarters of Canadian children are exposed to food marketing while using social media apps. They see an estimated 111 advertisements for food a week, or an average of 5,772 ads per year on apps such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and YouTube. The majority of those ads promoted ultra-processed foods (85%) and beverages high in fat, salt, or sugar (97%).
“This level of exposure may greatly influence children’s perception of a normal diet, as well as their food preferences and the foods they actually consume,” said study author Monique Potvin Kent. Childhood obesity in Canada has doubled since the 1970s, while obesity in adolescents has tripled in the past 30 years, putting kids at greater risk for chronic conditions and illness.
In the face of growing childhood obesity rates around the world, the World Health Organization has urged countries to adopt policies that limit childhood exposure to marketing that promotes unhealthy food.
However, despite strong evidence of the link between food marketing and childhood obesity, governments and the food industry are doing little to restrict children’s exposure to it. Canada, for example, lacks formal regulations to address the marketing of junk food to children outside of traditional broadcasting.
In 2020, US ABC News reported on the inundation of junk food advertising that contributes to the rising rate of teen obesity, a public health crisis among a cohort that is especially vulnerable to the messaging.
Foods high in fat, sugar, refined carbohydrates, salt etc., have been shown to have addictive properties that can increase cravings. These ultra-processed foods are engineered to be intensely rewarding. Biologically, adolescents are very vulnerable to addiction because their reward systems develop rapidly and peak in adolescence, but the parts of the brain that exert control and impose restraint develop more slowly.
Food advertising to children and teens almost exclusively promotes highly processed, unhealthy food loaded with fat and sugar. According to the CDC, 20.6% of those aged 12—19 are obese. And obesity in adolescence can lead to serious long-term physical and mental health consequences, and increases the risk of developing chronic diseases, including heart disease and diabetes.
We cannot address the obesity crisis unless the marketing is drastically lowered, Dr. Jennifer Harris, senior research adviser at the University of Connecticut’s Rudd Center for Food Policy on Obesity, told ABC News.
A July 2019 study on kid influencer channels showed they generated 48.2 billion views and 38.6 million subscribers through 10, 058 videos posted on YouTube. The average age of the kid influencers was 7.3 years and the children who starred in the videos ranged in age from 3—14 years.
The videos generated 16 million impressions for the food and/or drinks they featured. And nearly 90% of them promoted unhealthy branded products. Influencer endorsements can generate millions of views, and industry data suggest these endorsements can increase sales by up to 28% for the endorsed product.
Estimates suggest that companies will spend $15 billion over the next few years on influencer-based marketing which demonstrates the urgency of reducing unhealthy food and drink product placement in videos featuring and targeting young children.
Former NYT columnist and best-selling food writer Mark Bittman, author of the book “Animal, Vegetable, Junk” told The Guardian recently, “I think some limits on marketing junk food to children, along with teaching children where food is from and what food is about is really important. Because if you’re going to allow marketers to target kids, they will convince them that Tony the Tiger is their friend and that Coke is the best beverage to drink. And that McDonald’s is the most fun place to eat.
“If you’re going to let kids become convinced of that then you’re going to have generation after generation of adults who were saddled with food preferences that are dictated by big food. And we all know how difficult it is to change our food preferences.”
But there are three things we can do today:
Support offerings of plant-based food options. As they become profitable, Big Food and Fast Food will re-deploy their marketing muscle.
Prepare tasty, plant-based family meals.
Encourage governments to regulate and limit unhealthy food marketing to children.