Children around the world are being relentlessly targeted by the ultra-processed food and beverage industry, according to a new UNICEF report that warns of a deepening crisis in global child nutrition. The report, titled Feeding Profit: How Food Environments Are Failing Children, was released last month in New York and paints a stark picture of the digital-age food marketing landscape.

The report reveals that children and adolescents are now a core commercial audience for the ultra-processed food industry — bombarded daily by highly strategic marketing for sugary drinks, snacks, and fast food. From social media to schools, billboards to video games, young people are surrounded by advertising designed to exploit their vulnerabilities, build early brand loyalty, and shape long-term eating habits.

“Children are being fed a steady diet of persuasive, unhealthy food marketing — often without even realising it,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “This is not just a public health issue, but a child rights issue.”

UNICEF’s global U-Report poll, conducted in 2024 among over 64,000 young people, aged 13–24 across 171 countries, shows that 75% of respondents saw ads for sugary drinks, fast food or snacks in just the previous week. The main culprit? Digital platforms.

More than half (52%) encountered food ads via social media, followed by other websites (46%) and television (43%). The pattern held across income levels, with upper-middle-income countries showing the highest exposure (90%) — but exposure was also “alarmingly high” in low-income countries (65%) and even in conflict-affected areas (68%).

In war-impacted nations like Ukraine (84%), Iraq (82%), and Lebanon (81%), children reported near-constant exposure to these ads.

The report argues that such marketing directly undermines multiple rights enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, including the right to health, adequate nutrition, privacy, and access to unbiased information.

Younger children are especially vulnerable. Under the age of eight, most lack the cognitive ability to distinguish advertising from factual content, interpreting promotional messages as truth. Adolescents, while more cognitively developed, remain highly impressionable and susceptible to peer influence — factors that marketers knowingly exploit, according to UNICEF.

“This marketing ecosystem is not just pervasive — it’s predatory,” the report states.

UNICEF highlights how celebrities and influencers are increasingly central to these campaigns. In middle-income countries, nearly 30% of youth reported seeing food or drink endorsements from public figures. These tactics blur the lines between content and advertising, further complicating efforts to identify and resist unhealthy messages.

The emotional pull is powerful. In countries like India, South Africa, the Maldives, Viet Nam, and the Dominican Republic, children described feelings of excitement, temptation, and even helplessness when exposed to junk food marketing. Parents, in turn, reported feeling overwhelmed and powerless in the face of such constant influence.

It’s not just children being targeted. The report reveals that food packaging and advertising also exploit parents’ emotions and concerns — using claims of convenience, nutrition, or health benefits to drive purchases. In a separate analysis, UNICEF found that over 97% of child food products in parts of Africa and Southeast Asia carried inappropriate or misleading health claims.

UNICEF’s report concludes with a strong call for action. It recommends that governments urgently regulate digital marketing aimed at children, enforce clear labeling laws, and support parents with education campaigns on nutrition and marketing literacy.

“The ultimate goal,” the report says, “is a food environment where every child can grow, learn and thrive — not one where profit is prioritised over health.”

For now, however, children remain squarely in the crosshairs of a multi-billion-dollar industry that, as UNICEF warns, is feeding profit at the expense of their future.