Summary: Background: Unhealthy food marketing is a powerful determinant of unhealthy diets and obesity among children. Although it is known that food marketers target young people on social media, no study has yet quantified children's exposure on these platforms.Objectives: To compare the frequency and healthfulness of food marketing seen by children and adolescents on social media apps as well as estimate their weekly exposure.Methods: 101 children and adolescents (ages 7‐16 years) completed a survey on their media use and were recorded using their two favourite social media apps for 5 minutes each on the mobile device they usually use. Recordings of app use were reviewed to identify food marketing exposures.Results: Overall, 72% of participants were exposed to food marketing. Of the 215 food marketing exposures identified, most promoted unhealthy products such as fast food (44%) and sugar‐sweetened beverages (9%). Adolescents viewed more instances of food marketing, on average, per 10‐minute period compared with children (Mean [SD] = 2.6 [2.7] versus 1.4 [2.1], U = 1606, z = 2.94, P = 0.003). It was also estimated that children and adolescents see food marketing 30 and 189 times on average per week on social media apps, respectively.Conclusions: Statutory regulations restricting unhealthy food marketing to adolescents and children on social media should be considered.

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of the self-regulatory Canadian Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CAI) in limiting advertising of unhealthy foods and beverages on children’s preferred websites in Canada.Design/Setting/Subjects: Syndicated Internet advertising exposure data were used to identify the ten most popular websites for children (aged 2–11 years) and determine the frequency of food/beverage banner and pop-up ads on these websites from June 2015 to May 2016. Nutrition information for advertised products was collected and their nutrient content per 100 g was calculated. Nutritional quality of all food/beverage ads was assessed using the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and UK Nutrient Profile Models (NPM). Nutritional quality of CAI and non-CAI company ads was compared usingχ²analyses and independentttests.Results: About 54 million food/beverage ads were viewed on children’s preferred websites from June 2015 to May 2016. Most (93·4 %) product ads were categorized as excessive in fat, Na or free sugars as per the PAHO NPM and 73·8 % were deemed less healthy according to the UK NPM. CAI-company ads were 2·2 times more likely (OR; 99 % CI) to be excessive in at least one nutrient (2·2; 2·1, 2·2,P<0·001) and 2·5 times more likely to be deemed less healthy (2·5; 2·5, 2·5,P<0·001) than non-CAI ads. On average, CAI-company product ads also contained (mean difference; 99 % CI) more energy (141; 141·1, 141·4 kcal,P<0·001,r=0·55), sugar (18·2; 18·2, 18·2 g,P<0·001,r=0·68) and Na (70·0; 69·7, 70·0 mg,P<0·001,r=0·23) per 100 g serving than non-CAI ads.Conclusions: The CAI is not limiting unhealthy food and beverage advertising on children’s preferred websites in Canada. Mandatory regulations are needed.

Summary: Background: Digital food marketing is increasing and has an impact on children's behaviour. Limited research has been performed in Latin America.Objectives: To determine the extent and nature of Mexican children's and adolescents' exposure to digital food and beverage marketing during recreational internet use.Methods: A crowdsourcing strategy was used to recruit 347 participants during the COVID‐19 lockdown. Participants completed a survey and recorded 45 minutes of their device's screen time using screen‐capture software. Food marketing was identified and nutrition information for each marketed product was collected. Healthfulness of products was determined using the Pan‐American Health Organization and the Mexican Nutrient Profile Model (NPM). A content analysis was undertaken to assess marketing techniques.Results: Overall, 69.5% of children and adolescents were exposed to digital food marketing. Most frequently marketed foods were ready‐made foods. Children and adolescents would typically see a median of 2.7 food marketing exposures per hour, 8 daily exposures during a weekday and 6.7 during a weekend day. We estimated 47.3 food marketing exposures per week (2461 per year). The most used marketing technique was brand characters. Marketing was appealing to children and adolescents yet most of the products were not permitted for marketing to children according to the NPMs (>90%).Conclusions: Mexican children and adolescents were exposed to unhealthy digital food marketing. The Government should enforce evidence‐based mandatory regulations on digital media.

Objective: The objective of this research was to determine if, based on gender, adolescents were exposed to different marketing techniques that promoted food and beverages over social media.Design: A secondary analysis of adolescent boy (n 26) and girl (n 36) exposures (n 139) to food and beverage marketing was conducted. Mann–Whitney U and Fisher’s exact tests were conducted to compare the number, healthfulness and the marketing techniques of exposures viewed by boys and girls.Setting: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.Participants: Sixty-two adolescents aged 12–16 years.Results: Boys and girls were exposed to similar volumes of food marketing instances (median = 2 for both boys and girls, Mann–Whitney U = 237, P = 0·51) per 10-min period of social media use. More girls viewed products that were excessive in total fat compared to boys (67 % v. 35 %, P = 0·02). Boys were more likely to view instances of food marketing featuring a male as the dominant user (50 % v. 22 %, P = 0·03), appeals to achievement (42 % v. 17 %, P = 0·04), an influencer (42 % v. 14 %, P = 0·02) and appeals to athleticism (35 % v. 11 %, P = 0·03), whereas girls were more likely to view instances of food marketing featuring quizzes, surveys or polls (25 % v. 0 %, P = 0·01).Conclusions: Food and beverage companies utilise marketing techniques that differ based on gender. More research examining the relationship between digital food and beverage marketing and gender is required to inform the development of gender-sensitive policies aimed at protecting adolescents from unhealthy food marketing.

Despite growing interest from government agencies, non-governmental organizations and school boards in restricting or regulating unhealthy food and beverage marketing to children, limited research has examined the emerging knowledge base regarding school-based food and beverage marketing in high-income countries. This review examined current approaches for measuring school food and beverage marketing practices, and evidence regarding the extent of exposure and hypothesized associations with children’s diet-related outcomes. Five databases (MEDLINE, Web of Science, CINAHL, Embase, and PsycINFO) and six grey literature sources were searched for papers that explicitly examined school-based food and beverage marketing policies or practices. Twenty-seven papers, across four high-income countries including Canada (n = 2), Ireland (n = 1), Poland (n = 1) and United States (n = 23) were identified and reviewed. Results showed that three main methodological approaches have been used: direct observation, self-report surveys, and in-person/telephone interviews, but few studies reported on the validity or reliability of measures. Findings suggest that students in the U.S. are commonly exposed to a broad array of food and beverage marketing approaches including direct and indirect advertising, although the extent of exposure varies widely across studies. More pervasive marketing exposure was found among secondary or high schools compared with elementary/middle schools and among schools with lower compared with higher socio-economic status. Three of five studies examining diet-related outcomes found that exposure to school-based food and beverage marketing was associated with food purchasing or consumption, particularly for minimally nutritious items. There remains a need for a core set of standard and universal measures that are sufficiently rigorous and comprehensive to assess the totality of school food and beverage marketing practices that can be used to compare exposure between study contexts and over time. Future research should examine the validity of school food and beverage marketing assessments and the impacts of exposure (and emerging policies that reduce exposure) on children’s purchasing and diet-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviors in school settings.