Obesity and food‐related content aimed at children on YouTube

Abstract

Summary This article explores the intersection between advertising by food brands, practices on YouTube and child obesity. The objective is to analyse the communication features of marketing content by food brands targeting children on YouTube. The existing literature confirming the relationship between exposure to food advertising and actual consumption prioritizes television while largely ignoring the digital world. When children connect to the internet, watching videos on YouTube is their most common activity. We analyse and compare the advertising by food brands on regular TV networks (traditional advertising) with videos by child YouTubers (influencing) in Spanish. An exploratory study is conducted by means of a content analysis of 304 videos, with 12 variables grouped into 2 categories: prevalence of ultra‐processed vs healthy products in advertising, and marketing style. The results reveal marked differences in practices between brands and child YouTubers, along with the rise of hybrid media forms. The conclusions highlight the absence of advertising warnings in content targeting children. Changes are recommended to increase the responsibility assumed by these media spaces that exert such a huge influence on an audience as vulnerable as children.

An Assessment of Government Capacity Building to Restrict the Marketing of Unhealthy Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverage Products to Children in the Region of the Americas

“…Efforts that are exclusively focused on a specific setting or marketing technique leave children exposed to many communication channels and platforms where HFSS products are still promoted. Changes are recommended to adopt more comprehensive actions, including digital technology and media platforms that influence children's diet and health [35][36][37][38][39][40][41]. Member States should include a broader scope of strategies that use the IMC framework [25] to develop comprehensive policies to address the marketing of HFSS food and non-alcoholic beverages to children.…”

“…International trade agreements can affect obesity and NCD risk factors by facilitating trade for energy-dense nutrient-poor products. Integration of cross-border marketing into multilateral, regional and unilateral trade policies is needed to avoid weakening efforts, and public health interest must ensure policy coherence to have positive effects [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48].…”

“…Monitoring systems allow correction of unforeseen flaws, facilitating countries' capacity to strengthen, develop and implement nutrition policies [48][49][50][51][52][53]. Civil society and academic researchers should contribute to the monitoring and evaluation process using previously standardized and systematic analytical tools [34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53] across countries to address gaps and inform policymakers.…”

Health-related food advertising on kid YouTuber vlogger channels

“…The predominant foods and beverages in channels starring kid YouTubers are those pertaining to unhealthy diets. The healthy foods and beverages present are expected to be in the minority ( Castelló-Martínez & Tur-Viñes, 2020a , 2020b ; Coates et al., 2020 ; Harris, 2019 ; Lupton, 2020 ; Tur-Viñes and Castello-Martinez, 2021 ; De Veirman et al., 2019 ).…”

El uso de Instagram por niños youtubers: gestión de la marca personal, autopromoción y contenidos publicitarios

“…Así, ver videos es una de las actividades más comunes de los niños y ser youtuber una de sus profesiones preferidas (Castelló-Martínez & Tur-Viñes, 2020;AIMC, 2018). También seguir a influencers es una de las acciones más realizadas en YouTube e Instagram (IAB Spain y Elogia, 2021), siendo uno de los contenidos más consumidos por los niños los creados por youtubers de su edad (Martínez & Olsson, 2018).…”