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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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Navy Commander attends Trans-Regional Seapower Symposium in Italy

Published

11 hours ago

2026/10/12

Priyan

The Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy, Vice Admiral Damian Fernando attended the 15th edition of Trans-Regional Seapower Symposium, organised by the Italian Navy in Venice in Italy, on 6 and 7 October 2026.

The symposium was held at the Italian Navy‟s historic Arsenal in Venice under the theme “From Regional Waters to Global Influence: Generating Effects Across the Midland Seas of the World”.

Organised biennially by the Italian Navy since 1996, the symposium brings together heads of foreign navies, naval representatives, academics, industry representatives and scientific researchers to discuss maritime security and the role of regional maritime dynamics in shaping the global balance.

The sessions of the symposium aimed to present an analysis of the relevance and influence of regional dynamics on global balances and their relative implications within the maritime domain.

Thus, topics discussed included; ‘Geopolitical Background: Global and Regional Dynamics in Comparison,’ ‘Pivotal Role of Cooperation among Regional Alliances as Security Providers,’
‘Maritime Regional Security Complexes, Global Order and Sea-Based Flows – What Role for Navies?,’ ‘New Arctic Chessboard: Seapower, Resources and the Race for Connectivity,’ ‘Future-
Proof Capabilities: A Naval Force Designed to Operate Across Oceans, Act Within Regions and Deliver Effects on the Ground,’ ‘Future Seas: Industrial Scale, Decisive Mass and Innovation –
Securing the Maritime Domain’ and ‘Future-Proof Leadership: Preparing Maritime Commanders and Sailors for Complexity,’

Cooperation fostered through symposiums of this nature, which bring together a multitude of global maritime stakeholders, will enable the Sri Lanka Navy to respond collectively to maritime
challenges, in pursuit of maintaining a safe, secure, prosperous and a stable ocean region.

Latest News

Heavy showers about (100-150) mm are likely at some places in the Central, Sabaragamuwa, Uva and Southern provinces

Published

12 hours ago

2026/10/12

Priyan

WEATHER FORECAST FOR 13 October 2026
Issued at 2.00 p.m. on 12 October 2026 by the Department of Meteorology

A low-pressure area may form over the southeastern Bay of Bengal by 13 October.

Under the influence of this system, an increase in rainfall is expected over the island and the deep and shallow sea areas around the island during the next few days from tomorrow (13).

The general public, as well as the naval and fishing communities, are requested to be attentive to the future forecasts and bulletins issued by the Department of Meteorology in this regard.

Heavy showers about (100-150) mm are likely at some places in the Central, Sabaragamuwa, Uva and Southern provinces.
Fairly heavy showers above 75 mm are likely at some places in the other areas of the island. Showers or thundershowers will occur in most parts of the island.

The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damage caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.

Misty conditions can be expected at some places in the Sabaragamuwa, Central and Uva provinces during the early hours of the morning.

News

Elephant enrichment programme centred on the Thabbowa Reservoir proves successful

Published

12 hours ago

2026/10/12

Priyan

As part of the new government’s initiative to formulate scientifically grounded, long-term solutions to the human-elephant conflict, a programme aimed at sustainably fulfilling the natural food and water requirements of wild elephants within forest ecosystems is being successfully implemented.

Spearheaded by the Ministers of Environment, guided by the Secretary to the Ministry of Environment, and supported by all affiliated institutions, this initiative transforms tanks (reservoirs) and forest tracts in high-conflict areas into enriched zones for wild elephants.

To facilitate this forest enrichment drive, 113 forests have already been declared protected reserves under the Vanaspathi National Programme. The initial phase of establishing tank enrichment zones was launched around the Kala Wewa and Thabbowa reservoirs.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Environment and ‘Clean Sri Lanka’ jointly carried out an initiative to develop these reservoir
catchments into designated enrichment zones.

A year ago, an operation to eradicate invasive plant species that posed a severe environmental threat to the Thabbowa reservoir precinct was conducted with the comprehensive labour and
technical support of government officials, environmental scientists, the tri-forces, and residents.

Since the new government’s policy of “A Sustainable Biosphere, An Evergreen Life” is practically implemented at the ground level, officials from the Department of Wildlife Conservation and the Department of Forest Conservation have been continuously monitoring the ongoing progress and
field conditions of this collaborative project under ministerial directives.

During these field reviews, it was observed that following the removal of invasive flora, the tendency of wild elephants to wander into villages searching for sustenance has notably declined; instead, they increasingly frequent the naturally regenerated grasslands along the reservoir fringes.

Having proven this ecological model’s success through trials at Thabbowa and Kala Wewa, the Ministry of Environment has finalized all necessary blueprints to swiftly replicate it across other sensitive wetland systems and reserve zones where human-elephant conflict is prevalent.

By enriching wildlife habitats, this sustainable, eco-friendly, and scientific strategy protects human lives and cultivated farmlands while securing space for wild elephants in their native habitats, continuing to show promising results across high-conflict regions.