Children and teens who use live streaming gaming platforms are being bombarded with influencer-endorsed ads for energy drinks, junk food, and alcohol, according to new research. Platforms like Twitch, Facebook Gaming, and YouTube Gaming use influencers to advertise and pitch these products to young audiences, which have grown substantially during the pandemic.
“This type of marketing can normalize high-fat, high-sugar, and high-sodium foods at a time in young viewers’ lives when they’re developing eating habits that are going to follow them into adulthood,” said Caitlyn Edwards, a postdoctoral scholar of nutritional sciences at Penn State University. “We saw an increase, for example, in alcohol branding, which could normalize the idea that alcohol consumption needs to be a regular thing in a viewership that is still underage,” Edwards warned in a school news release.
In this study published in Public Health Nutrition, Edwards and her colleagues looked at more than 300 food and beverage products with high rates of marketing on social media platforms. The products were divided into six categories: alcohol, candy, energy drinks, processed snacks, soda, and restaurants. Energy drinks accounted for the vast majority (74%) of products advertised, followed by ads for restaurants, soda, processed snacks, alcohol, and candy.
The study findings show it’s important for parents to know what their children are being exposed to on live streaming platforms, as well as the possible need for regulation, according to the researchers.
(All information was provided by HealthDay)
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