WHO has released a new report, “Monitoring food marketing to children in Turkey”, as way to support policy-making in the country and build a more representative global picture of food marketing in WHO Member States.
This study focused on digital and television marketing with the aim of assessing Turkish children’s exposure to marketing of foods. For digital marketing, the study examined the websites of 20 of the most important food companies and their products. For broadcast media, data on all advertisements were recorded on the 5 most popular local commercial television channels.
Results show that food is the most heavily advertised product category on television in Turkey, accounting for 32.1% of total advertisements. However, most food advertisements on television and online are for foods high in saturated fat, salt and/or free sugars (HFSS) that do not comply with the WHO nutrient profile model (NPM). Specifically, 78.8% of the foods advertised on television would not be permitted to be marketed to children according to the WHO NPM. The foods most often advertised on television were chocolate (20.7%) and edible ices (18.8%). The foods most often promoted on company websites were chocolate (25.6%) and cakes, sweet biscuits and pastries (13.7%).
Most of the previous studies monitoring food marketing to children had been based on English-speaking countries, such as Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Therefore, this study makes an important contribution to the international literature.
The Vienna Declaration on Nutrition and Noncommunicable Diseases, the WHO European Food and Nutrition Action Plan and the WHO Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity all recommend that Member States take action to reduce the consumption of HFSS foods and beverages. One of the recommended measures is to introduce restrictions on the marketing of HFSS foods to children through all media, as advertising has been shown to have a strong influence on children’s perceptions, preferences and consumption of foods.
Since this study was conducted, the broadcasting authority in Turkey has formally adopted criteria for defining HFSS foods that are closely aligned with the WHO NPM. This study will therefore serve as a helpful baseline for the Ministry of Health in evaluating the implementation of the new nutritional criteria and further restricting food marketing to children in Turkey.