Three-quarters of influencers’ social media posts about meals and drinks are for unhealthy merchandise

Most food and drinks content material posted by German influencers on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube is so unhealthy it fails World Well being Group (WHO) promoting requirements for kids, in response to new analysis being offered by Dr. Maria Wakolbinger and Dr. Eva Winzer from the Medical College of Vienna at this yr’s European Congress on Weight problems (ECO) in Maastricht, Netherlands (4-7 Could).

The Austrian researchers analyzed the meals, snacks, and drinks that made an look in posts and movies by six of the preferred German-speaking influencers with youngsters aged 13-17 years, with a mixed whole of greater than 35 million followers or subscribers.

They discovered that 75% of the featured meals and drinks had been excessive in salt, fats, or sugar and wouldn’t be permitted for advertising and marketing to kids; and the bulk weren’t clearly signposted as adverts.

Chocolate and sweets had been probably the most generally featured merchandise influencers posted about, underscoring the pressing want for insurance policies and efficient regulation of influencer advertising and marketing to kids, researchers say.

“How can we anticipate our youngsters to eat healthily when content material on social media is skewed to advertise meals excessive in fats, salt, and sugar”, says Dr. Wakolbinger. “Influencers have large energy over what younger individuals really feel is related and interesting. Our findings recommend that more often than not, influencers will not be flagging when their posts are adverts—it is crucial governments take discover.”

Childhood weight problems is on the rise, with almost one in 5 kids or adolescents world wide at present obese or overweight. In Germany, over 15% of youngsters between the ages of three and 17 are obese or overweight. The advertising and marketing of unhealthy merchandise is acknowledged as an essential contributor to unhealthy weight acquire in childhood—affecting kids’s meals preferences and consuming behaviors. Subsequently, proscribing kids’s publicity to such advertising and marketing is a crucial world precedence for stopping weight problems. Nevertheless, little is thought concerning the frequency and content material of visible shows of meals and beverage merchandise featured by influencers in German-speaking international locations.

To supply extra proof, researchers analyzed the social media posts of meals and drinks on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram by six German-speaking influencers (three feminine, three male). The influencers had been chosen primarily based on having greater than 100,000 subscribers or followers on all three platforms, their recognition with younger individuals aged 13 to 17 years, and German content material.

Researchers analyzed the final 20 movies or posts uploaded by every influencer earlier than 1 Could, 2021. A number of gadgets appeared in some posts. Every meals or drink merchandise was coded both as ‘permitted’ or ‘not permitted’ for advertising and marketing to kids utilizing the WHO Regional Workplace for Europe’s nutrient profile mannequin—a system which ranks merchandise on their healthiness primarily based on their ranges of sugar, salt, and fats, fiber. Researchers additionally assessed whether or not promoting content material was being correctly disclosed.

Of the 364 movies/posts (nearly 13 hours of footage), 1 / 4 featured meals or drinks (409 merchandise)—together with half of the movies on YouTube, almost a fifth (17%) on TikTok, and seven% on Instagram, equal to a median of 18 merchandise per hour.

Primarily based on the WHO nutrient profile mannequin, 75% of the featured meals and drinks had been thought-about unhealthy and shouldn’t be marketed to kids; 17% had been permitted; and eight% couldn’t be decided resulting from an absence of dietary info or didn’t match into both class.

Chocolate and sweets had been probably the most generally posted about meals—making up nearly 1 / 4 of posts. Prepared-made comfort meals accounted for 9% of posts.

Over half (53%) of the merchandise had been described and offered positively by the influencers, 42% neutrally, and 5% negatively. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of the merchandise had been proven being consumed by the influencers themselves.

In 60% of the movies, the product was talked about within the video description. Of these, 19% of the movies talked about the model title or firm, and 41% talked about the meals itself. Nevertheless, simply 11% of the movies disclosed the product as an advert within the video description, and solely 3% within the video itself.

Based on Dr. Eva Winzer, “We should crackdown on social media and problem the position of influencers in junk meals advertising and marketing. That is the place regulation can come into play. Spain has lately introduced plans to ban influencers pushing unhealthy food and drinks to kids, however in most international locations there are not any restrictions on the advertising and marketing of unhealthy meals on web sites, social media, or cell purposes. Governments should undertake a complete method, concentrating on a number of media channels to make sure our kids are inspired to make wholesome way of life decisions.” 

Offered by
European Affiliation for the Research of Weight problems