Whether via ads or influencer collaborations, many of us are exposed to junk food marketing via digital devices. But are these campaigns reaching children? The invisible nature of digital marketing makes it challenging for researchers to identify and track precisely what brands are doing, particularly when marketing is rolled out behind company walls, and delivered to individual devices such as phones.

A new study led by nutritionist Christine Driessen (RPHNutr.) has found a way in. Through analyzing industry reports submitted to a marketing awards program, the research reveals a worrying reality: children and adolescents are being targeted by the very latest in sophisticated marketing techniques for unhealthy foods and drinks.

The new study is published in the journal Appetite, with co-authors from Deakin University, Monash University and the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

"Multinational food and beverage companies are using advanced digital marketing techniques, including artificial intelligence and new technologies, to shape young people's food behaviors and influence their diets worldwide," says Ms. Driessen, a Ph.D. candidate at the Deakin Center for Global Preventive Health and Nutrition at the Deakin Institute for Health Transformation.

"Strong government-led action is urgently needed to safeguard all young people from the invasive reach and powerful influence of digital marketing techniques employed by the food and beverage industry."

The researchers assessed 111 marketing industry "best in practice" case studies via the World Advertising Research Center, including marketing campaigns from Australia, India, China, Europe and U.S. Brands were typically owned by multinational companies, and included soft drink, chocolate, savory snack and milk drink products.

"Worryingly, our analysis allowed us to identify that brands describe the use of sophisticated behavioral and psychographic targeting techniques which can obscure age-based targeting," Ms. Driessen says.

"The fact that these approaches are being made explicit in award-winning campaigns suggests such marketing technologies are working well for food and drink companies."

"We need comprehensive government-led and mandatory policies that work across the entire digital ecosystem to protect children and families against the reality of unhealthy food and drink marketing," Ms. Driessen says.