An accountability evaluation for the responsible use of celebrity endorsement by the food and beverage industry to promote healthy food environments for young Americans: A narrative review to inform obesity prevention policy

Ethico-racial positioning in campaigns for COVID-19 research and vaccination featuring public figures

This article analyses a set of videos which featured public figures encouraging racially minoritised people in the UK to take the COVID-19 vaccine or get involved in related research. As racially targeted health communication has both potentially beneficial and problematic consequences, it is important to examine this uniquely high-profile case. Using a purposive sample of 10 videos, our thematic content analysis aimed to reveal how racially minoritised people were represented and the types of concerns about the vaccine that were expressed. We found representations of racialised difference that centred on 'community' and invoked shared social experiences. The expressed concerns centred on whether ethnic difference was accounted for in the vaccine's design and development, plus the overarching issue of trust. Our analysis adopts and develops the concept of 'racialisation'; we explore how 'mutuality' underpinned normative calls to action ('ethico-racial imperatives') and how the videos 'responsibilised' racially minoritised people. We discuss two points of tension in this case: the limitations for addressing the causes of mistrust and the risks of reductivism that accompanied the ambiguous notion of community. Our analysis develops scholarship on racialisation in health contexts and provides public health practitioners with insights into the socio-political considerations of racially targeted communications.

Perception and Impact of Food and Beverage Marketing on Children's Eating Behaviors and Associated Health Issues

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Children are more susceptible to food and beverage marketing than adults, but little is known about the specific effects of marketing through the media most used by children. This study aims to discover variables that can help inform childhood obesity prevention strategies. Our findings indicate an association between food advertisements and children's consumption, evidencing a need for the concerned authorities to create strict guidelines that consider the nutritional value of advertised foods. This study aims to study the attitudes and practices of children related to their preference for unhealthy meals due to food marketing and their association with childhood obesity.

METHODOLOGY

A cross-sectional study of randomly selected guardians of children who were screened for obesity. A structured questionnaire was given to the children's parents.

RESULTS

The study found that most of the participants' children prefer fast food (291, 78.0%), eat healthy meals (287, 76.9%), and eat fruits and vegetables every day (198, 53.1%). Furthermore, most participants (340, 91.2%) indicated that they were aware of unhealthy diets, and 105 (28.2%) said their children were overweight. Most participants (326, 87.4%) also indicated that watching television (TV) was associated with eating high-calorie foods.

CONCLUSIONS

There is strong evidence that children exposed to food marketing develop attitudes about and choose unlimited healthy food and unhealthy foods, which negatively impacts their health. It is recommended that future research employs a wide range of methodologies to study contemporaneous marketing strategies.

Effectiveness of Social Video Platforms in Promoting COVID-19 Vaccination Among Youth: A Content-Specific Analysis of COVID-19 Vaccination Topic Videos on Bilibili

Background

With the widespread promotion of the COVID-19 vaccination in China, videos about the vaccination have become increasingly available on social video platforms. With the User Generated Content model, different creators’ interpretations of COVID-19 vaccines may influence the attitudes towards the vaccines and vaccination.

Objective

To explore the overview of COVID-19 vaccine-related videos on Bilibili, discussing the communication effects of COVID-19 topic videos and its influencing factors.

Methods

A content analysis was applied to the 202 video samples obtained through data mining regarding the creator’s information, video presentation, and COVID-19 vaccine-related content.

Results

Individuals and medical professionals preferred VLOG videos, media chose to upload informational videos, and enterprises preferred to post showcase videos. Individuals were more likely to discuss the adverse reactions in their videos, while medical professionals were more likely to discuss the vaccination process for the COVID-19 vaccine. Videos with core issues positively influenced the video’s dissemination breadth. The attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccine in the videos positively influence the recognition of the videos. The richness of knowledge points related to the COVID-19 vaccine negatively affected the recognition and participation.

Conclusion

Social video platforms could play an active role in the vaccination promotion for the youth. Health promotion-related departments and individuals could strengthen agenda setting, grasp the characteristics of young groups, and express positive attitudes toward health issues to achieve better health (vaccine) promotion.

Toward a Recipe for Deep versus Surface Level Tailoring: Mixed-Methods Validation of Message Features to Reduce Sugary Beverage Consumption

Targeted marketing contributes to the overconsumption of sugary beverages, which contributes to obesity and diabetes disparities among African American and Latino populations in the U.S. Health communicators can similarly use culturally tailored messages to decrease sugary beverage consumption among these groups, yet the specific strategies to operationalize cultural tailoring-the message components essential for such tailoring-are ill-described. We sought to identify and validate authentically created, culturally tailored messages using a multiple step mixed-methods approach. First, we used a snowball approach to identify nutrition education messages targeting ethnic minorities about reducing sugary beverage consumption (N = 85). Via content analysis, we assessed message features (character gender and race/ethnicity), level of change of the appeal (individual or social), and level of cultural tailoring (surface level tailoring in the form of matching character gender and race/ethnicity with target audience versus deep structural tailoring in the form of appealing to values is an effective message strategy). The highest-rated videos were then validated by a sample of the target audience using a quantitative survey and qualitative comments (N = 76). The results inform theorizing on message tailoring and provide a validated pool of culturally relevant messages intended both to reduce intentions to consume sugary beverages and to engage in social change actions.

The Impact on Dietary Outcomes of Celebrities and Influencers in Marketing Unhealthy Foods to Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Celebrities, including influencers, are commonly used to market products that are high in fat, sugar, and salt (HFSS) to children but the impact on dietary outcomes has been unclear. The primary aim of this study was to systematically review the literature and quantify the impact of celebrities in HFSS marketing on children’s dietary outcomes. We searched eight databases and included studies from all countries and languages published from 2009 until August 2021. Participants were defined as under 16 years, exposure was marketing for HFSS products with a celebrity, and the outcomes were dietary preference, purchasing behaviors, and consumption of HFSS products. We were able to conduct a meta-analysis for consumption outcomes. Seven articles met the inclusion criteria, of which three were included in the meta-analysis. Under experimental conditions, the use of celebrities in HFSS marketing compared to non-food marketing was found to significantly increase consumption of the marketed HFSS product by 56.4 kcals (p = 0.021). There was limited evidence on the impact on preference or purchase intentions and on the comparisons between use and non-use of celebrities and influencers.

‘You Owe It to Yourself, Everyone You Love and to Our Beleaguered NHS to Get Yourself Fit and Well’: Weight Stigma in the British Media during the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Thematic Analysis

The portrayal of obesity in the media can impact public health by guiding peoples’ behaviours and furthering stigma. Individual responsibility for body weight along with negative portrayals of obesity have frequently dominated UK media discourses on obesity. This study aims to explore how the media has represented obesity during the COVID-19 pandemic through a thematic analysis of 95 UK online newspaper articles published in The Sun, The Mail Online, and The Guardian. The first theme, lifestyle recommendations, accounts for media coverage providing ‘expert’ advice on losing weight. The second theme, individual responsibility, emphasises media appeals to self-governance to tackle obesity and protect the NHS during the pandemic. The third theme, actors of change, explores how celebrities and politicians are presented as examples of weight management. These results suggest that individuals are held responsible for their weight and accountable for protecting the NHS during the COVID-19 pandemic. Stigma can be furthered by the decontextualisation of lifestyle recommendations and exacerbated by the actors of change presented: Celebrity profiles reveal gendered goals for weight management, and politicians exemplify self-governance, which consolidates their power. In conclusion, individualising and stigmatising discourses around obesity have taken new forms during the pandemic that link health responsibility to protecting the NHS and invokes celebrities and politicians to foster action.

The regulatory governance conditions that lead to food policies achieving improvements in population nutrition outcomes: a qualitative comparative analysis

OBJECTIVE

To identify the regulatory governance factors that lead to food policies achieving improvements in food environment, consumer behaviour and diet-related health outcomes.

DESIGN

Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) was used to investigate the relationship between regulatory governance conditions and population nutrition outcomes. The regulatory governance conditions examined entailed: high industry involvement in the policy process, regulatory design, policy instrument design, policy monitoring and enforcement.

PARTICIPANTS

n 29 policy cases in the policy areas of food reformulation, nutrition labelling, food taxation and food marketing.

SETTING

Policies implemented in thirteen countries.

RESULTS

Comprehensive monitoring was identified as a necessary regulatory governance condition for food policies to have an impact and was present in 94 % of policy cases that had a positive impact on nutrition outcomes. We identified two sufficient combinations of regulatory governance conditions. The first sufficient combination of conditions comprised an absence of high industry involvement in the policy process, combined with the presence of strict regulatory design, best-practice instrument design, and comprehensive monitoring and enforcement. Ninety-six percent of policy cases with positive impacts on nutrition outcomes displayed this combination. The second sufficient combination of conditions comprised an absensce of high industry involvement in the policy process, best practice instrument design and comprehensive monitoring. Eighty-two percent of policy cases with positive impacts on nutrition outcomes displayed this combination.

CONCLUSION

These findings show the importance of regulatory governance on policy outcomes. They suggest a need for more government-led nutrition policy processes and transparent monitoring systems that are independent from industry.

A mixed-methods study of American Millennials' views about celebrity endorsement of foods and beverages

More than one-third of American Millennial adults have obesity, and a significant amount of their household budget is spent on purchasing energy-dense and nutrient-poor food and beverage products. Consumers' brand awareness and purchasing behaviors are influenced by celebrity credibility measured by trustworthiness, expertise and attractiveness; and celebrity 'fit' between products, brands and consumer' self-image. This empirical mixed-methods study combined Q methodology with questionnaires to explore the shared and distinct viewpoints of demographically diverse Millennial adults about celebrity endorsement of food and beverage products or marketing campaigns in the United States (USA). Millennials (n = 40; aged 26-39 years) sorted photo images (n = 48) of US celebrities associated with branded food and beverage product endorsements on a 9-point normal distribution scale from 'most trusted' (+4) to 'most distrusted' (-4). Participants also completed a 4-item post Q-sort questionnaire to interpret their thoughts during the card sorting process, and a 3-item questionnaire to examine their views about celebrity credibility, 'fit' and multiple brand and product endorsements. Three distinct viewpoints were identified that included: (i) healthy lifestyle champions who trusted celebrities associated with healthy products or campaigns; (ii) female role-model admirers who trusted female celebrities associated with positive social impacts and (ii) African-American celebrity fans who trusted African-American celebrities who endorsed any brand or products. Qualitative analysis of the questionnaire identified the potential negative influence of celebrity endorsement for unhealthy products on Millennials' dietary behaviors. Businesses and organizations should carefully select credible celebrities trusted by Millennials to encourage food and beverage products associated with a healthy diet.