Food and Beverage Advertising Aimed at Spanish Children Issued through Mobile Devices: A Study from a Social Marketing and Happiness Management Perspective

Educommunication in Nutrition and Neurodegenerative Diseases: A Scoping Review

Neurodegenerative diseases significantly impact individuals' nutritional status. Therefore, nutritional education plays a crucial role in enhancing the understanding of food and nutrition, preventing or minimizing malnutrition, promoting well-being, and empowering patients and caregivers. Educommunication is a methodology that utilizes communication as a pedagogical tool, with the potential to positively enhance the teaching-learning process. This study aims to identify and map educommunication strategies designed to educate caregivers and patients with neurodegenerative diseases about food and nutrition.

METHODS

This scoping review followed the JBI Institute Reviewer's Manual. The search was conducted between June 2022 and March 2023 in databases including PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science.

RESULTS

Out of 189 studies identified, 29 met the eligibility criteria, and only 3 were suitable for inclusion in this review.

CONCLUSION

Studies using educommunication for food and nutrition education are scarce. Despite the limited number of studies included in this review, various educommunication strategies utilizing communication and information technologies were used. Educommunication strategies can facilitate knowledge acquisition in food and nutrition and change behaviors, resulting in health benefits for the participants. More studies on this subject are needed.

Advertising of foods and beverages in social media aimed at children: high exposure and low control

Background

This work is aimed to describe the recent scientific literature developed in the food/beverage sector and social networks aimed at children and adolescents, as well as current regulations.

Methods

A rapid review of the studies on advertising and social media aimed at children, published from 2010 tp 2020 is carried out, following the established inclusion criteria. In addition, the regulations in the countries in which the studies were carried out were also reviewed.

Results

Of the 573 articles, 7 met these criteria. The great attraction of unhealthy foods for children is observed, who remembered and recognized a greater number of unhealthy food brands and, by extension, the ability to influence of communication in social networks. Each country has its own self-regulation, two (Ireland and USA) have legislation on children’s food advertising, and Australia has legislation that applies only to open television. However, none of the analyzed countries have specific regulations on food, children and media advertising.

Conclusions

Given the fact that there is evidence about the great attraction that social networks suppose for the child, that they are a stimulus for the consumption of food and that many of these foods are harmful to their health; we should work in two directions: 1) Promote public policies based on promoting healthy habits among minors; and 2) Monitor and implement regulations in commercial communication social media.

The influence of unhealthy food and beverage marketing through social media and advergaming on diet-related outcomes in children-A systematic review

Children are increasingly exposed to food and beverage marketing, but little is known about the specific effects of marketing through media most used by children. This study aims to systematically review the influence of unhealthy food and beverage marketing through social media and advergaming on diet-related outcomes in children. Seven databases were systematically searched for English peer-reviewed quantitative and qualitative scientific studies on the effects of marketing of unhealthy products through social media or advergaming on a range of diet-related outcomes in children. Risk of bias was assessed with tools specific for the different study designs. Twenty-six studies were included, of which 20 examined the effect of food and beverage marketing through advergaming and six through social media. Most studies had a high risk of bias. The results suggested that unhealthy food and beverage marketing through social media and advergaming has a significant effect on pester behaviors, food choice, and food intake of children. The studies demonstrate that unhealthy food and beverage marketing through media popular with children significantly impacts different diet-related outcomes. Combined with existing evidence on this effect in other settings, this review provides clear evidence of the need for policies targeting screen-based marketing.

A Qualitative Analysis of Black and White Adolescents' Perceptions of and Responses to Racially Targeted Food and Drink Commercials on Television

Food and beverage marketing is a major driver of childhood obesity, and companies target their least nutritious products to Black youth. However, little is known about adolescents' perceptions of and responses to racially targeted food marketing. In this qualitative study, we investigated how Black and White adolescents perceived and responded to racially targeted television commercials for food and beverages. We recruited 39 adolescents aged 12-17 years in New York City to watch a series of commercials and then participate in an in-depth interview using a semi-structured interview guide. The research team recorded, transcribed, and analyzed interviews using ATLAS.ti. Overall, participants responded positively to commercials that featured celebrities. They were also able to recognize the commercials and reported they had been exposed to marketing from these companies on social media and in subways/buses. Many participants considered the advertised brands as healthy or able to enhance athletic performance because of their endorsement by or association with athletes. Participants also understood that marketers were using racial targeting in their ads but that targeting did not translate into improved perceptions or responses towards advertised products. These findings suggest the need to empirically evaluate and further explore Black and White adolescents' responses to racially targeted food marketing.

Happiness Management: A Culture to Explore From Brand Orientation as a Sign of Responsible and Sustainable Production

The overarching call to action represented by the sustainable development goals (SDGs) calls for new sustainable production and management models. Likewise, in periods of crisis, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, companies are forced to develop competitive and sustainable development strategies to increase their brand value and achieve a good market position. Therefore, this work's main objective is to design a structural equation modelling (SEM) to analyse the main critical dimensions of brand orientation to influence happiness in responsible and sustainable entities. For this purpose, a descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out based on primary data from a survey of a representative sample of 216 managers of small- and medium-sized enterprises in Andalusia (Spain) in the construction, industry and services sectors. The model results reveal significant dimensions of brand orientation and positively direct influence on happiness management. One of the significant managerial implications of this work is that the model allows for more responsible and sustainable management of entities by considering brand orientation about happiness.

How Does Happiness Influence the Loyalty of Karate Athletes? A Model of Structural Equations From the Constructs: Consumer Satisfaction, Engagement, and Meaningful

Federations are concerned about attracting new sportsmen and sportswomen and increasing the number of members. The purpose of this research was to describe karate federations' strategies for attracting and retaining members through happiness. The analysis was carried out by designing a structural equation modeling (SEM), which allowed to analyze the main variables that influenced the happiness of the karate athlete and consequently to study their effect on people's loyalty to sports federations. In particular, Partial least squares SEM was applied in an overall model when it was possible to understand the happiness role in relation with other traditional relevant variables on loyalty. The data were obtained through primary sources employing a survey sent to the autonomous federations in the discipline of karate, obtaining a sample of 682 federated members in Spain. The results of the model revealed that consumer satisfaction, engagement, and meaningful influence on consumer happiness, but engagement was the most important and relevant variable for affecting this variable. Finally, consumer satisfaction and consumer happiness influence loyalty, and consumer satisfaction was the most important variable, but consumer happiness showed a real alternative for improving loyalty in karate sports federations. Then, one of the implications of this work was that it helped to explain how the federations can be managed to achieve loyal consumers together with a more considerable increase in the number of federated members.

Children, Media and Food. A New Paradigm in Food Advertising, Social Marketing and Happiness Management

The growing number of children who are obese or overweight in certain countries or geographical areas is a fact, as evidenced by the continuous studies and reports on the subject, endorsed or carried out by the World Health Organisation and independent research. In this context, food and beverage advertising can contribute to this. The main objective of this research is to evaluate compliance with the Food and Drink Advertising Code for Children (PAOS Code) in Spain and its relationship with nutritional habits on television, specifically on channels aimed at children. The methodology is therefore mixed: on the one hand, a qualitative technique based on discourse analysis and, on the other, a quantitative technique based on the content analysis of the advertising broadcast for seven consecutive days on three specialised channels and two generalist channels on Spanish television. The results reveal a systematic noncompliance with this code, which translates into inadequate eating habits among children. The immediate conclusion is that 9 out of 10 parts of food and drink advertising do not comply with any of the rules of the PAOS Code and that self-regulation by the advertising companies is negligible and insufficient.

Breakfast Food Advertisements in Mediterranean Countries: Products' Sugar Content in the Adverts from 2015 to 2019

Although Spain was considered to be the healthiest country in the world in 2019, some studies reported that Mediterranean diet (MD) adherence, especially for breakfast, is low among children in Mediterranean countries, where child obesity is increasing alarmingly. This study correlated longitudinally the sugar content of breakfast products with advertising strategies. The research design applied quantitative analysis to compile the advertising data from 2015 to 2019 for all media, qualitative analysis of the content, and the use of popular characters to promote the food purchase. Additionally, a nutritional analysis was used to determine the products’ sugar content. The results were analyzed according to the target they were aimed at (adults or children). Results showed that the Spanish food industry promoted unhealthy products for breakfast, especially those targeted to children, with very high sugar content. To improve the childhood obesity rate in Spain, greater involvement from the food industry is needed. The reformulation of breakfast products must be a priority along with additional sugar reduction strategies so as not to lose adherence to MD in younger generations. More nutrition education is necessary among children, especially on balanced breakfast consumption, a basic meal that helps children to concentrate better in class during the morning.