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A new study from the University of Ottawa reveals that nearly three quarters of Canadian children are exposed to food marketing when they use popular social media applications.
The study, commissioned by Heart & Stroke, found that children saw about 111 food ads a week, averaging 5,772 ads a year on apps such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and YouTube.
The study revealed that the majority of these advertisements were promoting ultra-processed foods and drinks high in fat, salt or sugar.
"This level of exposure can greatly influence children's perception of a normal diet, as well as their food preferences and the foods they actually consume," Monique said. Potvin Kent, the author of the study, in a press release.
According to research, childhood obesity in Canada has doubled since the 1970s, while teenage obesity has tripled in the last 30 years, exposing children to an increased risk of chronic disease .
In the face of rising rates of childhood obesity around the world, the World Health Organization has urged countries to adopt policies limiting children's exposure to marketing promoting unhealthy foods.
Despite ample evidence that food marketing affects children's eating behaviors, Canada does not yet have formal regulations governing the marketing of junk food to children outside of a traditional broadcast environment.
L & # 39; study
The latest study examined social media and gaming applications used by children and pre-teens to see how food advertising is presented on the platforms most used by children.
The study recruited 101 children aged 7 to 16 in the Ottawa area and ordered them to use two of their favorite social media apps for two five-minute periods.
Participants used the applications as usual, wearing specialized eye tracking glbades that recorded what they had seen on the screen so that researchers could then review them.
The study divided the content into four categories: food advertisements, user-generated content that promotes a brand, celebrity-generated food marketing and integrated food marketing to others. content.
These can range from explicit commercials paid for by companies to extended snapshots of branded food in videos, or even to a web survey questioning users about their favorite flavor of potato chips.
The advertised foods and beverages were then judged by the Nutrition Profile Model of the Pan American Health Organization, which determines the safety of food.
Eighty-five percent of the food and beverage products on offer were clbadified as ultra-processed, while 97% were considered high in fat, sodium or sugar.
The researchers also looked at the exposure to food marketing in gaming applications. They found that only 9% of the 138 games tested in the study included advertisements for food products.
Over the course of a year, on average, children will only see an average of 145 food ads in gaming apps, compared to 5772 on social media.
Regulate advertising on junk food for children
The publication of the study comes just days before the final vote on Bill S-228 in the Senate.
Currently in Canada, with the exception of Quebec, advertising for children's food and beverages is self-regulated through voluntary participation in the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative.
Eighteen leading companies, including Coca Cola, Kraft and McDonalds, have launched the initiative, committing to promoting "healthier" products for children under 12, if at all, when certain conditions are met.
The bill, sponsored by former Senator Nancy Greene Raine, seeks to amend the Food and Drugs Act to restrict the marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to children.
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