Majority Want Influencer Junk Food Ads Banned for Under-18s

A poll suggests that 79% of people in Ireland want the Government to ban celebrity and influencer-led endorsement of junk food to children.

The data was compiled from a poll for the Irish Heart Foundation and showed that respondents support measures to prevent children from being shown posts for foods high in sugar, fat and salt.

Professor Mimi Tatlow Golden, lead researcher of a study into the issue, said: “Teens in Ireland are flooded with influencer content on social media, and they love it – they watch it for five times as long as paid-for ads.

“This is a global juggernaut where influencers of all kinds have become the most powerful tool available to unhealthy food brands, and parents can’t fully know what is happening.”

Professor Golden spoke at a press briefing prior to meeting with Senators and TD’s to discuss the Irish Heart Foundation's call for a ban on this content for under 18s.

An Ipsos poll found that children in Reland are exposed to huge amounts of unhealthy food marketing, often driven by influencers.

A Clickbite study also found that children in Ireland see 15 junk food ads every hour that they are online.

The Irish Heart Foundation's Director of Advocacy, Chris Macey, said: “We know that seeing just one single junk food ad will add an average of 30-50 calories to a child’s diet.

“But it only takes 48-71 calories daily for kids to gain weight over time.

“These extraordinary levels of exposure reveal the devastating impact that junk food marketing is having, and not just in driving high levels of childhood obesity.

“Virtually every child’s health is being compromised by an advertised diet that turns the food pyramid on its head, making unhealthy choices and overconsumption inevitable.”

The Ipsos poll found that the vast majority would back Government intervention aswell as ban celebrity and influencer endorsements of unhealthy foods and drinks.

The Irish Heart Foundation is also calling for a 9pm watershed on TV for junk food ads, and for the State to stop accepting advertising from big brands at bus stops, railway stations and billboards.