Young Children 'Easy Targets' For Junk Food Adverts On Apps And Social Media
Experts in Liverpool are warning children as young as two are easy targets for junk food adverts in social media and apps.
Researchers, including from the University of Liverpool claim adverts disguised as games and videos.
Dr Emma Boyland, is a lecturer in in appetite and obesity at the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Psychology, Health and Society and Trustee of the UK Association for the Study of Obesity.
She said: "Children are extensivley exposed to food marketing, through things like TV, but also there's a whole load of it under the radar through social media and internet advert gaming"
"They'll be playing a game which wil involve a lot of brand imagery, it's really immersive and a new way of marketing food, and we're concnered about what effect it's having on their diets"
Research from Cancer Research UK this month claimed 3 in 4 adults will be obese bt 2035.
Their study published in January suggested that 39 per cent of the population would be obese – 33 per cent will be overweight and 28 per cent forecast to be of healthy weight. or less
Emma says eating habits need to be carried from childhood and will affect someone's health later on in life.
She said: "It really important to get these messages to children. There's a lot of good work in schools, and campaigns about healthy eating. We know parents trying but its incredibly diffrecult"
"We see obesity rates are going up, they are still to high and they need to come down"
"Im not denying children need to be more active as well, but from my perpective there's a lot more that can be done to better the food enviornment to make those healthy options more availible and accessible"
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