Benchmarking unhealthy food marketing to children and adolescents in Canada: a scoping review

Abstract

Introduction Unhealthy food and beverage marketing in various media and settings contributes to children’s poor dietary intake. In 2019, the Canadian federal government recommended the introduction of new restrictions on food marketing to children. This scoping review aimed to provide an up-to-date assessment of the frequency of food marketing to children and youth in Canada as well as children’s exposure to this marketing in various media and settings in order to determine where gaps exist in the research. Methods For this scoping review, detailed search strategies were used to identify relevant peer-reviewed and grey literature published between October 2016 and November 2021. Two reviewers screened all results. Results A total of 32 relevant and unique articles were identified; 28 were peer reviewed and 4 were from the grey literature. The majority of the studies (n = 26) examined the frequency of food marketing while 6 examined actual exposure to food marketing. Most research focussed on children from Ontario and Quebec and television and digital media. There was little research exploring food marketing to children by age, geographical location, sex/gender, race/ethnicity and/or socioeconomic status. Conclusion Our synthesis suggests that unhealthy food marketing to children and adolescents is extensive and that current self-regulatory policies are insufficient at reducing the presence of such marketing. Research assessing the frequency of food marketing and preschooler, child and adolescent exposure to this marketing is needed across a variety of media and settings to inform future government policies.

Advertising expenditures on child-targeted food and beverage products in two policy environments in Canada in 2016 and 2019

“…This is one of the few studies to estimate food advertising expenditures directed at children and the only study to do so in Canada. Although this study cannot speak to children’s exposure to food advertising, this examination of expenditures provides some insight as to the advertising practices of the food industry, including on the radio and in print and out-of-home media, which have not been examined comprehensively or at all in Canada for food advertising directed to children [ 54 , 55 ]. Nevertheless, this study’s methodological limitations should be highlighted.…”

Examining differences in children and adolescents' exposure to food and beverage marketing in Canada by sociodemographic characteristics: Findings from the International Food Policy Study Youth Survey, 2020

“…Evidence also suggests that there are gender differences in marketing: male youth tend to be exposed to food advertising more frequently than females, and marketing is more likely to be male‐dominant (i.e., featuring exclusively or predominantly male characters) 23 . The existing evidence thus far, however, is predominantly from the US, and there has been little work investigating whether exposure to food marketing differs across children of different sociodemographic groups in Canada 24 . Given the differences in the sociodemographic profile (e.g., ethnicity groups) of the Canadian population compared to the US, additional data are required to understand potential sociodemographic disparities in food and beverage marketing in Canada.…”

“…23 The existing evidence thus far, however, is predominantly from the US, and there has been little work investigating whether exposure to food marketing differs across children of different sociodemographic groups in Canada. 24 Given the differences in the sociodemographic profile (e.g., ethnicity groups) of the Canadian population compared to the US, additional data are required to understand potential sociodemographic disparities in food and beverage marketing in Canada.…”

Development and testing of two tools to assess point-of-sale food and beverage marketing to children in restaurants

“…Globally ( 1 , 2 ) , and in Canada ( 3 , 4 ) , children are exposed to a high level of unhealthy food and beverage marketing via multiple media channels. Food and beverage marketing to children (M2K) has negative impacts on their health and nutrition ( 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 ) , which is why over a dozen countries have implemented M2K restrictions ( 7 ) .…”

“…schools and recreation facilities). One of the current gaps in M2K research is the extent to which children are exposed to food marketing within restaurants ( 3 , 4 ) .…”