Researchers Examine “Kidfluencers” and Children’s Health

A group of researchers has published a study in Pediatrics examining the “frequency with which kid influencers promote branded and unbranded food and drinks during their YouTube videos and assess the nutritional quality of food and drinks shown.” Alruwaily et al., “Child Social Media Influencers and Unhealthy Food Product Placement,” Pediatrics, November 2020. The researchers reviewed the 50 most-watched videos and 50 videos featuring food and beverages in the thumbnail image from each of the five most-watched YouTube personalities aged 3 to 14, ultimately identifying 179 videos including food. “The 179 videos that featured food and/or drinks were viewed >1 billion times and generated 2.6 million likes on YouTube,” the report states. “Food and/or drink product placements in those kid influencer videos generated ∼16.5 million impressions for items that were mostly unhealthy branded products.”

“Our findings suggest the need for future experimental studies to examine the extent to which viewing these types of videos increases consumption of unhealthy foods and assess whether kid influencers’ endorsements increase the preferences for the product among toddlers, young children, and parents,” the researchers concluded. “The [Federal Trade Commission] should enact regulations that more adequately address unhealthy food and beverage brands promoted by kid influencers.”