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UNICEF Report: Children “feeding profit” amid global surge in junk food marketing

Published

1 year ago

2025/10/6

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.

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Presidential pardons: Govt. studying Justice Thurairaja’s recommendations – Minister

Published

1 hour ago

2026/10/13

Sahan Weerasooriya

Thurairaja / Harshana

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Justice and National Integration Minister Harshana Nanayakkara said yesterday that the Cabinet was studying a set of recommendations made by a Committee, led by retired Supreme Court judge Sithambarampillai Thurairaja, PC, regarding a systematic, fair and transparent mechanism for granting presidential pardons to convicted prison inmates.

Attorney-at-law Nanayakkara said so when The Island raised the issue in the wake of the ongoing controversy over prison authorities compelling General Secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) Ven. Galadodaaththe Gnanasara to wear civilian attire when produced in court.

The Minister declined to elaborate but said the Cabinet of Ministers was yet to reach consensus on the recommendations. The NPP government, on 25 June 2025, appointed Thurairaja’s committee to study the provisions of the Article 34(1) of the Constitution, along with other statutory acts and judicial rulings.

Justice Thurairaja handed over his report to Justice and National Integration Ministry Secretary Ayesha Jinasena, PC.

The other members of the Committee were Deputy Minister of Mass Media Dr. Kaushalya Ariyarathne, Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Justice and National Integration Piyumanthi Peiris, Additional Solicitor General Nerin Pulle, Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (SDIG) Legal Asanga Karawita, Chairperson of the Bureau of Rehabilitation Professor Wasantha Subasinghe, Specialist Dr. Chiththahari Abayanayake, former Acting Commissioner of Prisons Nishan Dhanasinghe, Acting Commissioner General of Prisons Prasad Hemantha Kumara, Senior Assistant Secretary (Legal) to the Ministry of Justice and National Integration Roshani Hettige, and Senior Assistant Secretary to the Ministry of Justice and National Integration Chandima Welikala.

The government called for guidelines regarding presidential pardon over a year before the Supreme Court rescinded, in September this year, the presidential pardon granted by Maithripala Sirisena to Ven Gnanasara serving a six-term of rigorous imprisonment for contempt of court. That pardon was granted in May 2019, the third controversial release by Sirisena during his presidency.

President Sirisena pardoned an ex-LTTE terrorist and also the Royal Park murderer Don Shramantha Jude Anthony Jayamaha, in 2016 and 2019, respectively. The Supreme Court, in June 2024, annulled the pardon granted to Jayamaha and ordered his arrest though he still remains free having fled overseas no sooner he was granted the pardon.

News

Mahinda and Shiranthi hospitalised

Published

1 hour ago

2026/10/13

Sahan Weerasooriya

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was admitted to a private hospital yesterday morning (12).

Meanwhile, former First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa, who is currently in remand custody at Welikada Prison, has been admitted to the Cardiology Unit of the National Hospital in Colombo.

News

Monks must be allowed to wear robes when produced in court: Mahanayake Theras

Published

1 hour ago

2026/10/13

Sahan Weerasooriya

SJB MPs meeting Most Venerable Tibbotuwawe Sri Sumangala Mahanayake Thera of the Malwathu Chapter

“JVP did not bomb Dalada Maligawa; it seized weapons from security personnel stationed there”

By S. K. Samaranayake

Most Venerable Tibbotuwawe Sri Sumangala Mahanayake Thera of the Malwathu Chapter yesterday said the President has assured that a final decision on new prison regulations would be taken withn two weeks and until then whenever bhikkhus were produced before court, they must be allowed to wear robes. The monk said the Mahanayaka Thera has written to the Commissioner General of Prisons about their decision.

The Mahanayake Thera said so when SJB MPs, led by General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara, paid a courtesy call on him.

During the meeting, the Mahanayake Thera expressed the following views:

“Currently, a massive campaign is underway on social media to insult and disrespect the Maha Sangha. Some individuals carrying out these attacks are not linked to any political party. We expected the government to intervene and completely put an end to this, which is entirely possible. Laws should be introduced to control this. The insults directed at monks must be stopped immediately. We cannot accept these acts, no matter who commits them. We even saw fabricated images circulated on social media depicting the President in robes and monks in lay attire. Such disrespect is completely unacceptable and must be curbed.

“We also know that some individuals currently representing Parliament have past ties to the Sasana. All we ask is for the mudslinging and insults targeting monks to be halted immediately. Certain elements continue to spread falsehoods about the government. Before this administration came to power, they claimed temples were finished, Buddhism was over, and the Perahera wouldn’t take place. But didn’t they just conduct the Kandy Perahera brilliantly?

“Various people are even complaining about the Casket (Karanduwa) of the Dalada Maligawa. In particular, we saw former Diyawadana Nilame Niranjan Wijeratne criticising the matter. Much of what he said was false. During his tenure, the previous casket was coated in lacquer, which nobody talks about. Replacing the old brass casket with a golden casket is a very commendable step what is wrong with that? Just as items from royal eras are retired and modern equivalents are put to use, the older casket has been given due respect and securely housed. There is no issue there. Some people claim the JVP bombed the Maligawa too. Nothing of the sort happened; it was LTTE terrorists who bombed the temple. The JVP merely seized weapons from the security personnel stationed there.”

Meanwhile, speaking during the visit, SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara and other parliamentarians charged that the current administration is laying the groundwork to turn the country into a secular state.

“It is impossible to introduce new laws for monks within two weeks; it takes much longer,” Bandara noted. “The President has the authority to issue an interim directive that any monk presented to court must appear in robes, but he chooses not to do so because he does not want to. Everyone who speaks out against this is targeted and smeared on social media, driven by a network of 2,000 to 3,000 social media operators tied to the government who attack and insult me. Even during the case of Father Mathew Peiris, who committed murder, his clerical cassock was not stripped. Inside the prison religious leaders were respected.

“The public base of this current government is rapidly eroding as a result of their actions, which is why they are attempting to strike at Buddhism to secure minority votes. Any government is constitutionally bound to protect the Buddha Sasana. We will not allow them to destroy Buddhism and turn this country secular; we will defend Buddhism to the very last, and all Sri Lankans must step forward for this cause.”

Following their meeting at the Malwathu Chapter, the delegation proceeded to the Asgiri Mahavihara, where they met the Mahanayake Thera of the Asgiri Chapter, Most Venerable Warakagoda Sri Gnanaratana Mahanayake Thera, and Anunayake Venerable Narampanaye Sri Ananda Thera to brief them on the current situation.

The delegation included SJB Parliamentarians Ranjith Madduma Bandara, Kins Nelson, Sujeewa Senasinghe, A.C. Alahapperuma, Rohana Bandara, Suranga Ratnayake, Rohini Kaviratne, Chandrani Kirielle, alongside prominent figures such as Lakshman Kiriella, Wasantha Yapa Bandara, Ranjith Aluwihare, and Professor Upul Dissanayake.