Protecting children from unhealthy food marketing 

Yes. Advertising works – and the processed food industry knows this. That’s why they spend millions every year on marketing to reach Australian children in all areas of their lives, building brand awareness and normalising unhealthy food. There is strong evidence that unhealthy food marketing influences the foods that children prefer, choose and eat. For more information, see the Obesity Evidence Hub page on the Impact of food marketing on children.

Australian children cannot escape unhealthy food marketing– it is everywhere, acting as wallpaper in their lives. They are exposed to significant amounts of unhealthy food marketing as part of their daily lives – as they travel to school and within their community, when they go to the shops or to sporting events, when they watch TV with their families and when they go online to learn, to access information, and to communicate with friends and family. For information about how much unhealthy food marketing children see in different areas of their lives, including on TV and online, see the Obesity Evidence Hub page on the Impact of food marketing on children.

Processed food companies have become increasingly sophisticated in the way they target and reach children with unhealthy food marketing.

Common tactics include:

• Paying for advertising during TV shows that are popular with children

• Putting cartoons on unhealthy food packaging

• Giving away free toys with unhealthy meals

• Running competitions with prizes that children want

• Sponsoring children’s sport, to associate their unhealthy food with healthy activities

• Soft drink billboards on public transport

• Fast food advertising at sporting events, including professional football and cricket games

• Designing branded games and apps for young children

• Paying influencers popular with children to promote unhealthy products on social media

• Designing their own content on social media that children can engage with and share with friends

• Running ad campaigns on social media that appear when children are online

• For more information, see the Obesity Evidence Hub page Promotional channels and techniques: unhealthy food  

There is no Australian Government regulation specifically designed to protect children from unhealthy food marketing. Instead, the advertising industry has developed its own limited code about unhealthy food marketing to children. Evidence from around the world shows that self-regulatory codes are not effective in protecting children from unhealthy food marketing.  

For more detail on the limited regulation in Australia that applies to unhealthy food marketing and the evidence on the impact of self-regulation, see the Obesity Evidence Hub page on Australia's lack of regulation of unhealthy food marketing to children.

We want to see government regulation to protect children from unhealthy food marketing. There are four actions we want governments to take, set out in our Brands off our kids campaign.  

These are:  

1. Ensure television, radio and cinema are free from unhealthy food marketing from 6am to 9.30pm  

2. Prevent processed food companies from targeting children  

3. Ensure that public spaces and events are free from unhealthy food marketing   

4. Protect children from digital marketing of unhealthy food  

Head to our campaign page to join our campaign and read our full Brands off our kids! report with more detail about these actions.  

Protecting children from unhealthy food marketing is strongly supported by the Australian public, by public health organisations and is now reflected in key national strategies. It is also recommended by key international organisations.

• 7 out of 10 Australian adults agree that government should take action to protect children from unhealthy food marketing.

• More than 35 organisations and 200 individuals support our Brands off our kids! campaign calling for government to take four actions to protect Australian children from unhealthy food marketing – join us!  

• Both the National Obesity Strategy and the National Preventive Health Strategy include strategies or policy achievements around reducing children’s exposure to unhealthy food marketing.   

• The World Health Organization supports action to protect children from unhealthy food marketing in its Set of Recommendations on the Marketing of Foods and Non-alcoholic Beverages to Children.

Yes, Australia is falling behind international best practice on protecting children from unhealthy food marketing.  

For example, Chile does not permit unhealthy food marketing on television between 6am and 10pm and also restricts some types of marketing that appeal to children, including using cartoons or licensed characters on product packaging.  

Recently the United Kingdom Government has committed to stopping unhealthy food and drink advertising on television between 5.30am and 9pm and to stopping paid unhealthy food and drink advertising on the internet. This is planned to be implemented in 2025.  

Many countries have implemented restrictions on unhealthy food marketing, and these vary in their scope and application.  

For more information about policies to reduce children’s exposure to unhealthy food marketing, including the case study of Chile, see the Obesity Evidence Hub