Use of environmental scan to assess density, content, and variation of predatory food and beverage marketing in New York City

Addressing the marketing and availability of unhealthy food and beverages in and around selected schools in Ghana: a community readiness appraisal

“…These techniques include predatory marketing which has been defined as ‘the subset of targeted marketing that promotes unhealthy products to vulnerable populations’. 39 Adapting these existing definitions, unhealthy food marketing was described in this study as the communication (using advertising, promotion and sponsorship) of ultra-processed/energy dense nutrient poor foods and beverages to Ghanaian children for commercial gain. Currently, national regulation on food marketing is through guidelines for the advertisement of foods issued by Ghana’s Food and Drug Authority in accordance with the country’s Public Health Act, 2012, Act 851.…”

Healthiness of Foods and Beverages in Outdoor Advertisements in Xela, Guatemala: A Commercial Determinants of Health Interpretation

“…Indeed, studies from Ghana, South Africa, and the U.S. show that outdoor food and beverage ads tend to be placed in high (foot)traffic areas, such as billboards on roadways and posters at bus, metro, and train stations [13][14][15]. In Australia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the U.S., ads for unhealthy items have also been shown to disproportionately target lower income areas and neighborhoods with a higher proportion of Black, Indigenous, and people of color, as well as outdoor areas in and around places of study frequented by children and youths [11,[16][17][18].…”

The Pitfalls of Ascribing Moral Agency to Corporations: Public Obligation and Political and Social Contexts in the Commercial Determinants of Health

“…Some also believe that industries have been predatory in nature (i.e., marketing their products to vulnerable populations, such as children and the poor). 1,2 Commercial actors, through their industry representatives, have also been perceived as indirectly contributing to our poor health by seeking to shape the science (e.g., cherry-picking and revealing data that question the relationship between sugar consumption and ill health) used to question the need for soda taxes 3 ; the regulatory environments, such as lobbying against marketing restrictions or soda taxes or working with the government to cosponsor health campaigns and/or engage in product self-regulation in turn generate government incentives and precedents not to pursue regulations. [4][5][6] Commercial actors have also defended social norms, "weaponizing" issues such as defending individual liberties in the right to consume whichever products individuals desire in order to avoid regulations-deemed as "nanny state" intrusions-and to maximize future revenue.…”

“…It is well established that commercial actors contribute to poor health through, for example, the production and marketing of harmful products such as calorie‐dense, nutrient‐poor foods. Some also believe that industries have been predatory in nature (i.e., marketing their products to vulnerable populations, such as children and the poor) 1,2 . Commercial actors, through their industry representatives, have also been perceived as indirectly contributing to our poor health by seeking to shape the science (e.g., cherry‐picking and revealing data that question the relationship between sugar consumption and ill health) used to question the need for soda taxes 3 ; the regulatory environments, such as lobbying against marketing restrictions or soda taxes or working with the government to cosponsor health campaigns and/or engage in product self‐regulation in turn generate government incentives and precedents not to pursue regulations 4–6 .…”