Food marketing and gender among children and adolescents: a scoping review

Abstract

Background Pervasive marketing of unhealthy foods is a contributing factor to the growth of the global epidemic of childhood and adolescent overweight and obesity. Sex and gender differences come into play in the design of and responses to these marketing strategies, contributing to the perpetuation of stereotyped behavior and generating disparities in food choices and health. The purpose of this paper is to review the current literature regarding gender differences in food marketing design and perception among children and adolescents to facilitate evidence-based policy dialogues to address gender-based health disparities in NCD prevention. Methods Scoping review of articles published in scientific journals in English and Spanish, from 2003 to 2018, that addressed the influence of food marketing among children and adolescents including a gender perspective. The methodological quality of each article was assessed following criteria specific to each study design. Results From a total of 37 articles (39 studies) included in the review, 17 were experimental and 22 had descriptive, cross-sectional designs. Twenty-one studies were found to have low methodological quality, while 10 and 8 were of medium and high quality, respectively. A total of 23 studies among children and adolescents found gender-based differences. Differences were found in the following dimensions: food marketing on intake; responses to specific marketing; perceptions and attitudes towards food marketing and marketing regulation initiatives; exposure to food advertising and gendered marketing content. The evidence was not conclusive in any of the dimensions. Conclusions The evidence suggests that food marketing has a similar impact on the consumption of unhealthy foods on boys and girls, but boys were found to be exposed to food advertising more intensively and their preferences to be more affected by this exposure, coinciding with a male-dominant advertising content. Limitations of these studies include taking gender as an unproblematic construct equivalent to biological sex and the lack of studies focused on developing countries. As gender is a cross-sectional dimension that interacts with other factors driving health disparities, an integrated gender perspective is needed to develop effective, evidence-based policies to control food marketing and tackle the childhood overweight and obesity pandemic.

The impact of fast food marketing on brand preferences and fast food intake of youth aged 10-17 across six countries

“…73,74 It may also be possible that males are targeted by industry marketing practices more often than females, as males are reportedly featured more frequently in food marketing, which could lead to greater persuasion towards consuming the product. 75 We also found that individuals classi ed as ethnic minorities were more likely to report the consumption of fast food than ethnic majorities. Recent data has suggested that Black and Hispanic youth in US are being disproportionally exposed more food marketing, which brings concern as socioeconomic status is associated with ethnic minority status in countries like the US, and those with a lower socioeconomic status are more likely to exhibit poorer health outcomes.…”

Food Advertisement and Dietary Choices in Adolescents: An Overview of Recent Studies

“…The scoping review by Castronuovo et al revealed that gender can play an important role in the development of different food marketing techniques and how youth respond to them; many variables could mediate the association between advertising, gender, and eating behaviors, such as weight status, nutritional knowledge, advertising techniques, media type, brand awareness, family pressures, etc. [ 51 ].…”

Association between Family and School Pressures, Consumption of Ultra-Processed Beverages, and Obesity in Preadolescents: A School-Based Epidemiological Study

“…In line with other studies, Greek preadolescent boys were found to be more susceptible to soft drinks and other less healthy beverages compared to girls [ 33 , 34 ]. It is supported that young girls tend to have healthier dietary habits than boys [ 35 ], and this could be partly attributed to the fact that boys are more exposed to food advertising, and their tastes are more influenced by this exposure, which coincides with male-dominant advertisement content [ 36 ]. Moreover, the literature findings suggest that physiological, psychological and sociocultural factors determine the associations between gender and dietary behaviors.…”