Children鈥檚 exposure to marketing of foods high in fat, sugar and salt in the UK

This project is a feasibility study on how much marketing for foods that are high in fat, sugar, and salt are children actually exposed to in the UK?

22 June 2021

Background

There is widespread concern about the extent of young people鈥檚 exposure to marketing foods that are high in fat, sugar, and salt (HFSS) and the role of this marketing in fuelling childhood obesity. Young people are exposed to marketing through a variety of platforms, including television, digital media, and billboard advertisements.

Although research has been done to assess television advert exposure, there is no clear picture in terms of the total amount of marketing that young people are exposed to throughout the day across all communication platforms, nor on how powerful each channel is in reaching children with their marketing messages. Given the increasing pressure to limit young people鈥檚 exposure to HFSS marketing, it is important to determine where the bulk of this exposure is coming from.

Aims

To test a method for gaining an understanding of how much marketing for foods that are high in fat, salt, and sugar young people are exposed to throughout the day, in what forms and on what platforms.

To develop and refine a method for using wearable cameras to explore young people鈥檚 exposure to high fat, salt, and sugar marketing.
To assess the feasibility and acceptability of doing a full-scale study using wearable cameras to measure children鈥檚 real-time exposure to HFSS marketing.
To gain an understanding of how much marketing young people exposed are to throughout the day, in what forms and on what platforms.

Methodology

10-12 students in Year Eight (secondary school) will be provided with wearable cameras over a four-day period. The cameras will automatically take photos of the wearer鈥檚 environment in order to capture the marketing that they are exposed to throughout the day.

The camera study will be followed up by separate focus groups with the children and their parents to assess the feasibility and acceptability of the process.

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Data was collected and analysed during the second half of 2018.

This will be followed up with a full-scale study to be conducted from mid-2019.

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