Commercial influences on child and adolescent health

Dr Asha Pemberton

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CHILDREN and teenagers are digital natives. They have only known a world in which connection through a vast and infinitesimal online vortex is the norm. Attached to it are many seen and unseen complications.

While young people enjoy the communication, gaming, entertainment and aspirational aspects of social media, they are less aware of the advertising and commercial outputs thrown at them. Commercial influences significantly impact child and adolescent well-being.

This population is cleverly targeted through marketing strategies and algorithms, which bombard young people with specific products and services based on their browsing patterns and upcoming trends.

Often, tweens and teens do not even know why they are attracted to the things that they are, as the intuition of artificial intelligence becomes that much more sophisticated.

The food industry has been a long-standing culprit. Children and adolescents continue to be exposed to insatiable and targeted marketing of ultra-processed, high-calorie, sugary, and fatty foods.

Fast foods and sugary drinks are especially marketed through social media, online games, and influencer collaborations, which shape their preferences and consumption patterns.

Although thankfully becoming less frequent, some institutions still attach toys, games and prizes to the purchase of “kiddie meals,” making them more alluring to this very vulnerable population.

The health implications of untethered consumption of these products are undeniable. Earlier onsets of type 2 diabetes, the explosion of obesity, poor dental health and cavities are a few.

Young people also experience low energy, sluggishness, symptoms of acid reflex and constipation due to high intake of low-fibre, high-sugar non-nutrient foods.

The tobacco and vaping industries have swiftly followed, with specific marketing toward young people. The propulsion of flavoured products and the imagery of being “cool” have created a sense of social acceptance and popularity around vaping.

The health risks to children and adolescents are again many. These products are highly addictive due to nicotine, leading to potential long-term addiction and respiratory health issues.

Adolescents who vape are also at higher risk for transitioning to regular cigarettes and other substances of abuse.

The alcohol industry uses social media to promote products either in the context of parties, fun and recreation, or more with an uber-aspirational lifestyle of sophistication and chic.

In reality, neither of those constructs requires the consumption of alcohol; and the consumption of alcohol can directly produce neither lifestyle.

Beyond these, commercial influences directly impact the spending patterns surrounding clothing, gaming, beauty, body image, pharmaceutical products, and even political ideology.

The cognition of children and adolescents is uniquely vulnerable to these influences as young people want to fit in to what they perceive to be the most persuasive culture around them.

This considered, parents are required to consistently monitor the trends which their children adopt and provide a steadying hand as required.

While there will always be a difference in culture between parents and their children, the influences today are very different compared to times before.

For reasons of intentional commercial interest, and in a time where the access to market forces is unprecedented, the playing field is simply not level.

Artificial intelligence has accelerated this process exponentially, as the capacity of these systems to analyse trends and generate bespoke commercial offerings to users simply cannot be explained.

We are not even aware of the ways in which specific advertisements pop up on our screens and more vulnerable minds often interpret them as fate. All considered, this is the current reality.

Parents are encouraged to consider commercial influences of health, alongside other influences including exposure to violence and explicit content.

They all collectively have the capacity to shape the decisions of young people, which may or not be supportive of a healthy transition to young adulthood.

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