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NIHR Obesity Policy Research Unit at UCL

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

Title

How much marketing for foods that are high in fat, sugar, and salt are children actually exposed to in the UK? A feasibility study 

Purpose

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.

Background

There is widespread concern about the extent of young people’s exposure to marketing for 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 in reaching children with their marketing messages. Given 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.

Aims

  1. To develop and refine a method for using wearable cameras to explore young people’s exposure to high fat, salt, and sugar marketing.
  2. To assess the feasibility and acceptability of doing a full-scale study using wearable cameras to measure children’s real-time exposure to HFSS marketing.
  3. 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’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

Data 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.