Children’s 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?

Background

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There is widespread concern about the extent of young people’s 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’s exposure to HFSS marketing, it is important to determine where the bulk of this exposure is coming from.

Methodology

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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’s 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.

Timing 

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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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The NIHR Policy Research Unit in Healthy Weight is part of the NIHR and hosted by UCL.