Digital advertising entices minors to engage in unhealthy behavior
Chatting, following celebrities, using social media: Children and young people are increasingly online and are bombarded with advertising that can endanger their health. The World Health Organization (WHO) warns against this.
Governments need better usage data in order to better regulate this advertising world to protect children, the WHO European Region demanded last Thursday. In order to prevent heart disease, cancer and obesity in adults, it is important to protect children and young people from advertising for unhealthy foods. These include sweet, salty or fatty snacks in particular.
According to the WHO, there is increasing evidence that children and young people are being influenced by digital marketing for unhealthy products. Non-contagious diseases account for 86 percent of causes of death in the European region, according to the WHO. The region includes 53 countries, including the EU, Russia, Turkey, Israel, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan.
The WHO quotes from a study in the UK that three quarters of 13 to 17-year-olds follow brands they like on social media and that 57% make purchases in apps and online games. If alcohol companies invite users to upload or share content themselves, this could appeal to younger people in particular, warns the WHO. Young people often trust content uploaded by other users or influencers who are paid for advertising. In most countries, more advertising money is now spent on digital media than on television advertising, according to the WHO.
But there is far too little user data, partly because platforms such as Facebook, Google and Amazon want to keep their information to themselves. The WHO is urging authorities to investigate which age groups from which social classes are online when and what type of digital communication they use. Too little is also known about the digital strategies of advertisers. Armed with this information, governments could better protect young people. (SDA)
