Food and non‐alcoholic beverage marketing in children and adults: A systematic review and activation likelihood estimation meta‐analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging studies

Abstract

SummaryFood marketing impacts the food behaviors of children and adults, but the underpinning neural mechanisms are poorly understood. This systematic review and meta‐analysis pooled evidence from neuroimaging studies of exposure to food marketing stimuli (vs. control) on brain activations in children and adults to clarify regions associated with responding. Databases were searched for articles published to March 2022. Inclusion criteria included human functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies employing a contrast between a food marketing stimulus and a non‐food/non‐exposure control, published in English in a peer‐reviewed journal, reporting whole brain (not Region of Interest [ROI] only) co‐ordinates. Eleven studies met inclusion criteria, of which eight were included in the quantitative synthesis (Activation Likelihood Estimation [ALE] meta‐analysis). Food marketing exposures (vs. controls) produced greater activation in two clusters lying across the middle occipital gyrus, lingual gyrus, and cuneus (cluster 1), and the postcentral gyrus, precentral gyrus, and the inferior parietal lobule/supramarginal gyrus (cluster 2). Brain responses to food marketing are most consistently observed in areas relating to visual processing, attention, sensorimotor activity, and emotional processing. Subgroup analyses (e.g., adults vs. children) were not possible because of the paucity of data, and sensitivity analyses highlighted some instability in the clusters; therefore, conclusions remain tentative pending further research.

What Is Food Noise? A Conceptual Model of Food Cue Reactivity

“…In order to maximize public health benefits, individuals, clinicians, public administrators, and policymakers should work together to address the biological, behavioral, social, and environmental determinants of health that lead to the development and maintenance of obesity by employing a socioecological approach to health promotion [99][100][101]. For example, it might be necessary to adopt multilevel, multicomponent strategies that combine individual-level interventions such as pharmacological and behavioral treatments that can help address influencers of food cue reactivity with community-level interventions and public policies that improve our food environments and regulate mass exposure to external food cues through media and advertisement, which are likely contributing to experiences of food noise [102]. Another essential goal should be improving equity in access to both medical and behavioral treatments through increased availability and insurance coverage, given that there are significant socioeconomic determinants of obesity and the gap is likely to become wider with the emergence of new treatments that are prohibitively costly for people of lower income [103,104].…”