Children’s Health, Privacy At Risk From Digital Marketing

The World Health Organization (WHO) has published the report, which calls for immediate action by policy makers to recognise and address the growing issue of targeted marketing to kids through digital media.

In the absence of effective regulations for digital media in many countries, children are increasingly exposed to persuasive and individually-tailored marketing techniques through, for example, social media sites and advergames. This trend persists, despite the stubbornly high rates of childhood obesity found almost universally in the WHO European region.

Food marketing has been consistently demonstrated to influence children’s food preferences and choices, shaping their dietary habits and increasing the risk of becoming obese.