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Does Food Advertising Affect People’s Health and Well-Being?

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Food Advertising

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Abstract

This chapter takes the discussion forward from an analysis of the part played by food promotion in food preferences to its influence over people’s dietary habits and associated health status. In particular, we consider here whether there is compelling evidence that exposure to food advertising and other forms of food promotion is a causal factor in the development of childhood overweight and obesity. The evidence derives from a range of different methodological perspectives, only some of which include direct measurement of exposure to food advertising. Other studies have used proxy measures of media exposure and inferred potential levels of advertising exposure from these. The evidence is critically assessed in this chapter to determine its overall robustness. It becomes clear that proxy measures represent poor indicators of food advertising exposure, while studies that use more direct measures provide some weak indications of food promotion effects. Newer forms of food marketing in the digital era pose new problems in that their identity as marketing devices is not always clear. This raises new regulatory challenges especially in regard to the protection of children.

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  1. Media and Communication, University of Leicester, Loughton, Essex, UK

    Barrie Gunter

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Gunter, B. (2016). Does Food Advertising Affect People’s Health and Well-Being?. In: Food Advertising. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40706-7_6

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