A new study from Karolinska Institutet shows that the majority of food and beverage advertisements that adolescents are exposed to on social media promote unhealthy products. The study is part of a new report from UNICEF Sweden and the Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation.
Adolescents in Sweden are exposed to an average of 17 ads for unhealthy food and beverages per hour while using TikTok. This is shown in a study from Karolinska Institutet that forms the basis of a new report by UNICEF Sweden and the Heart-Lung Foundation. The report highlights how food and beverage advertising on social media affects the health of children and adolescents.
Increases cravings for unhealthy food
The study was conducted by Ioannis Ioakeimidis , Sofia Spolander and Hanna Wieslander , at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge . It is based on data from adolescents aged 13-16 who, in their classroom and thereafter over the course of one week, documented the advertisements they encountered in their social media feeds. Of all the ads the adolescents were exposed to, more than one third (34 percent) were for food or beverages. Of these, 70 percent promoted products classified as unhealthy - such as fast food, sweet and salty snacks, and sugar-sweetened beverages.
"In focus group interviews, participants said they were often tempted into impulse purchases by the design of the ads. Several also expressed a sense of powerlessness in the face of the volume of advertising they encounter daily," says Sofia Spolander, researcher at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge.
The adolescents also described how discounts and visually appealing ads increased their cravings for unhealthy food. Many felt that the advertising affected them, but that it was difficult to resist.
Going against dietary advice
Unhealthy dietary habits are one of the leading causes of illness and premature death in Sweden. Despite clear dietary guidelines, the consumption of unhealthy food among young people is increasing, while the intake of fruits and vegetables is decreasing. Overweight among children aged 11-15 has more than doubled in the past 30 years, and obesity in this group has quadrupled.
"The food environment influences our eating habits, and marketing is an important part of that environment. This study shows that the advertising adolescents encounter on social media contradicts dietary guidelines," says Sofia Spolander.
The report from UNICEF Sweden and the Heart-Lung Foundation emphasizes the need for measures to protect children from unhealthy marketing - measures that have already been introduced in several other countries but are still lacking in Sweden.
The report
In your phone - about the online food environment of children and their exposure to digital marketing of food and beverages , the Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation, Unicef Sweden, Karolinska Institutet, May 2025.
