Advertising of foods and beverages in social media aimed at children: high exposure and low control

Background This work is aimed to describe the recent scientific literature developed in the food/beverage sector and social networks aimed at children and adolescents, as well as current regulations. Methods A rapid review of the studies on advertising and social media aimed at children, published f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMC public health 2022-09, Vol.22 (1), p.1-1795, Article 1795
Main Authors: Meléndez-Illanes, Lorena, González-Díaz, Cristina, Álvarez-Dardet, Carlos
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescents
Advertisements
Advertising
Attraction
Beverages
Children
Communication
Criteria
Digital media
Food
Food advertising
Food consumption
Food products
Foods
Habits
Health aspects
Internet
Internet marketing
Legislation
Marketing
Mass media
Public policy
Regulation
Regulations
Social interactions
Social media
Social networks
Social organization
Systematic review
Teenagers
Television
Youth market
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Summary:Background This work is aimed to describe the recent scientific literature developed in the food/beverage sector and social networks aimed at children and adolescents, as well as current regulations. Methods A rapid review of the studies on advertising and social media aimed at children, published from 2010 tp 2020 is carried out, following the established inclusion criteria. In addition, the regulations in the countries in which the studies were carried out were also reviewed. Results Of the 573 articles, 7 met these criteria. The great attraction of unhealthy foods for children is observed, who remembered and recognized a greater number of unhealthy food brands and, by extension, the ability to influence of communication in social networks. Each country has its own self-regulation, two (Ireland and USA) have legislation on children's food advertising, and Australia has legislation that applies only to open television. However, none of the analyzed countries have specific regulations on food, children and media advertising. Conclusions Given the fact that there is evidence about the great attraction that social networks suppose for the child, that they are a stimulus for the consumption of food and that many of these foods are harmful to their health; we should work in two directions: 1) Promote public policies based on promoting healthy habits among minors; and 2) Monitor and implement regulations in commercial communication social media. Keywords: Social networks, Advertisements, Advertising, Marketing, Foods, Food advertising
ISSN:1471-2458
1471-2458
DOI:10.1186/s12889-022-14196-4