ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the Low-nutrient, Calorie-dense foods and beverages are increasingly advertised and promoted to youth via social media marketing. The rise of social media marketing raises additional concerns when targeted to older children and adolescents. Older children and adolescents regularly use social networking sites such as Facebook, typically with minimal parental oversight. Parents, public health officials, and policymakers all should consider the effects of food marketing messages conveyed in social media networks as a potential contributor to youth obesity and poor diets. Facebook users may share the messages they receive from liked companies with others in their social network, and 94" of these marketing messages contained engagement devices designed to encourage sharing. Commercial messages from food and beverage brands liked by the boys and messages shared by one of their friends appeared in the form of posts directly on the boys' newsfeeds, interspersed with messages from their social network friends.
