Junk food marketing and kids: facts and trends

New Delhi (India), April 25: As a parent, you try your best to nourish your child with healthy food. But there's a relentless force working against you – the aggressive marketing of junk foods specifically designed to hook kids from a young age. It's time to arm yourself with knowledge to protect your children from these harmful influences.

The Alarming Facts

Billions Spent on Advertising: The food and beverage industry pours billions of dollars into marketing campaigns that target children directly. As calculated in CyberGhost’s study, since 2019, the fast food restaurants have spent more than $5 bln on advertising to captivate children’s and teens’ attention. 

Ads Everywhere: Junk food ads bombard kids on television, the internet, in video games, and even in schools.

Most Ads are for Unhealthy Foods: Studies show that the vast majority of food advertisements children see are for sugary drinks, fast food, candy, and other unhealthy snacks.

It Works: This relentless marketing is incredibly effective. Research published in Nutrients shows that exposure to junk food advertising influences children's food preferences, what they ask their parents for, and what they ultimately consume.

Sneaky Marketing Trends to Watch Out For

Junk food marketers are constantly evolving their tactics to keep up with the changing media landscape. Here are some worrying trends:

Social Media Influencers: Companies use popular kid-friendly YouTubers, TikTok stars, and other social media figures to subtly promote unhealthy foods and drinks. Kids see their online heroes consuming these products and want to do the same.

Advergames: Games embedded within websites or apps often feature branded junk foods as power-ups or rewards. This blurs the line between entertainment and advertising. For example, even though it is hard to associate the fast food industry with sports, cricket, one of the most popular sports in Australia, has a sponsorship of a huge fast-food brand, as Frontiers mentions. No wonder, it influences children’s choices so much!

Interactive Marketing: Interactive experiences like augmented reality (AR) allow kids to engage with junk food products in seemingly fun ways, building brand loyalty.

Targeting Based on Data: Marketers use browsing data and personal information to serve highly targeted junk food ads to kids, exploiting their online habits.

The Consequences for Our Kids

Continuous exposure to this kind of marketing has serious repercussions for our children's health and well-being: 

Childhood Obesity: Junk food marketing directly contributes to the childhood obesity epidemic.

Lifelong Health Problems: Diets high in junk food increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers, and other chronic illnesses later in life.

Distorted Food Perception: Kids bombarded with junk food ads may start to believe these foods are the norm, making it harder to introduce them to healthy choices. 

What We Can Do

Limit Screen Time: Less time spent online and watching TV means less exposure to harmful food advertising.

Talk to Your Kids: Have open conversations about how advertising works and its intent to persuade. Teach children to be critical consumers of media.

Support Healthy Environments: Advocate for junk food marketing restrictions in schools, on websites aimed at children, and in public spaces.

Make Home a Healthy Zone: Stock your kitchen with nutritious snacks and involve kids in meal preparation.

It's time to fight back against the junk food machine that targets our children. By being aware of the facts, understanding the trends, and acting, we can create a world where the healthy choice is the easy choice for our kids.