A new study found that children and teenagers in the U.S. encountered thousands of food marketing messages online each year and most advertised products were classified as unhealthy.
Researchers from the University of Illinois Chicago and the University of Ottawa conducted the cross-sectional study.
Lead researcher Lisa M. Powell said the findings offered a real-world picture of how young people encountered food marketing across digital platforms, including social media, web browsing and mobile games. She said the research could help inform policies to protect young people from marketing of unhealthy products.
Researchers Examined Digital Media Use Among 1,011 Young People
The study looked at 1,011 children and adolescents aged 8 to 17 in the United States. Between November 2024 and October 2025, real-time videos were recorded on participants’ devices and questionnaires were completed.
Participants said they used their smartphone or tablet for an average of 3.7 hours per day outside of school and homework. The researchers analyzed how much food marketing was seen on these platforms and used the Pan American Health Organization’s nutrient profile model to determine the healthiness of the products.
Adolescents aged 13 to 17 had a median of 10,107 food marketing messages each year. Children aged 8 to 12 had a median of 1,427.
Girls had higher exposure than boys, as did young people whose parents or guardians did not have a college degree.
Fast Food, Sweets and Beverages Dominated the Advertisements
Fast food was the most common food product being marketed, with 28.8 percent of products being fast food. Sweets were next, with 20.4 percent of products being sweets. Drinks were the third most common, with 20.1 percent. Soda was the most common drink.
The researchers looked at 2,660 food products that were not restaurant-based. 2,437 of these did not meet the nutritional guidelines set by the Pan American Health Organization.
The results raise concerns about the nutritional quality of products that young people are exposed to. However, it was not determined whether these products were purchased or whether they affected children’s diets.
TikTok and YouTube Accounted for More Than Half of Recorded Exposures
Social media accounted for 82.6 percent of the 5,154 recorded food marketing exposures. TikTok represented 30.4 percent of the total, while YouTube accounted for 22.6 percent.
The researchers also examined how the marketing reached young audiences. Paid advertising made up 52.4 percent of recorded exposures, while 43.9 percent came from earned media, such as content shared or circulated without a direct paid placement. The remaining 3.7 percent was classified as owned media.
Almost half of the marketed food items came from companies participating in the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, an industry self-regulatory program.
The findings suggested that food marketing reached young people through more than conventional advertisements. Brand-related content could also appear in social media posts and other material that did not look like traditional advertising.
Researchers Said Digital Food Marketing Needed Greater Scrutiny
The researchers said that, due to the high level of exposure to unhealthy food marketing, more protection is needed for young people. Much of the exposure came from unpaid media and companies that are part of self-regulation within the industry. This raised questions around how effective the current protections are.
Powell said the study may have underestimated the exposure as only smartphones and tablets were used. Messaging apps were also not allowed. This may have impacted how participants used other platforms.
The researchers said some participants may have changed how they used the internet.
This was an observational study, so it does not prove that companies were targeting specific children, but it shows how much exposure young people have to food marketing through digital media.
