Dive Brief:
- Children and teenagers see close to 4,000 food marketing messages each year, with the vast majority coming from social media, according to a new study published in JAMA Pediatrics.
- Adolescents ages 13 to 17 encountered more than 10,000 food marketing exposures each year, either through paid, earned or owned advertising, the report found. Children ages 8 to 12 experienced close to 1,500 messages per year, "indicating a substantial rise between age groups," per the study.
- Almost half of marketed products came from companies participating in the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, a voluntary program to limit advertising of candy, soda and other non-nutritious food to children under 13.
Dive Insight:
For decades, food and beverage companies have primarily marketed to young people through TV ads, including with characters like Tony the Tiger or Toucan Sam. However, as businesses invest more marketing dollars behind social media, there's been limited studies on how children are exposed to messaging on platforms such as TikTok or YouTube.
Researchers used screen recordings to track the food marketing children and adolescents saw while using their devices as normal for 30 minutes. The study is meant to be a "real-world picture of young people’s exposure across digital platforms, including social media, web browsing and mobile games,” Lisa Powell, lead researcher and director of the Food Policy Research Program at the University of Illinois Chicago, said in a statement.
The study, which involved over 1,000 children aged 8 to 17, claims to be the first in the U.S. to examine youth exposure to food advertising across digital media platforms and is the largest globally to date.
Participants were most often exposed to fast food marketing at 28.8%, followed by sweets at 20.4% and beverages at 20.1%. Close to 92% of the non-restaurant foods marketed were considered unhealthy under Pan American Health Organization’s nutrient profile standards.
The study also found that almost 83% of the food marketing came through social media, with TikTok and YouTube comprising over 50%. Gaming made up 14% of marketing exposure, with the remaining 3.5% attributed to web browsing.
Food and beverage industry giants came together in 2006 to form the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, a voluntary program where participants agree on set standards for responsible food and beverage advertising for children. Today, the initiative involves 17 companies including Coca-Cola, Ferrara and General Mills, and covers advertising in TV, digital, mobile apps and influencers.
The initiative has led to major decreases in children's advertising on television. A 2024 study also led by Powell found advertisements seen on children's programming decreased by 95.1% for 2- to 5-year-olds and by 97% for 6- to 11-year-olds between 2013 and 2022.
Following her latest study on social media marketing, Powell said in a statement that "marketing in the digital landscape is more complex, and regulating it will be more challenging.”
Children's food and beverage advertising has again come into the spotlight in recent years with the rise of the Make America Healthy Again movement and a crusade against ultraprocessed foods that's gained bipartisan support.
The Trump administration said in 2025 it was exploring whether to limit food companies’ ability to market certain unhealthy foods to children, while Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced a bill this summer that would impose a first-of-its-kind federal ban on kids junk food advertising.
A study from the American Journal of Public Health in July found 64% of Americans support restrictions on advertising ultra-processed foods to children.
