How Junk Food Advertising Impacts your Kid’s Diet

In today’s fast-paced digital world, children are surrounded by a constant stream of advertising — from TV screens and tablets to gaming platforms and social media. Unfortunately, many of these adverts are promoting foods high in sugar, fat, and salt — cleverly disguised behind bright packaging, catchy music, and animated characters that appeal directly to children. Whether you like it or not, these can have an impact on your kid’s diet.

At Avacare, we know how hard it can be for parents to encourage healthy eating when their children are being influenced by such strong external cues. Even a few minutes of exposure to junk food ads can have a surprising impact: research shows that it can trigger cravings and increase food intake, even when food isn’t directly shown. Simply seeing familiar branding or slogans can stimulate appetite, leading to children eating more — not because they’re hungry, but because the advert sparked a desire to snack.

The Hidden Impact of Food Marketing

What makes junk food advertising particularly concerning is that it often bypasses a child’s ability to critically assess what they’re seeing. Children under the age of 12 generally don’t recognise the persuasive intent behind marketing, making them especially vulnerable.

The result for your kid’s diet?

• Increased daily calorie intake
• Higher consumption of nutrient-poor, high-sugar foods
• Disrupted natural hunger cues
• Greater risk of developing poor eating habits and obesity later in life

Even small increases in calorie intake over time can contribute to long-term health problems, especially when paired with the nutrient gaps that already exist in many kid’s diets today.

Modern Diets, Modern Challenges

We live in a world of convenience foods — pouches, processed snacks, ready-made meals. While convenient, these often lack the diversity and density of nutrients that growing children need. When you add the influence of advertising into the mix, it’s no wonder that many children are overfed but undernourished.

As parents, we can’t always control what children see, but we can help them build a strong nutritional foundation. This starts with:

• Providing a variety of whole foods, especially fruits and vegetables
• Making water the go-to drink
• Reducing exposure to screens during meals
• Talking about food in a positive, empowering way
• Using high-quality nutritional supplements to support growing needs

Support with Avacare Child Multi

To help bridge the nutritional gaps common in modern diets, our Avacare Child Multi is specially formulated with 12 essential vitamins and minerals to support energy, focus, immunity, and development. It’s tasty, easy to take, and designed to complement your kid’s diet — giving you peace of mind, even on snack-heavy days.

We know parenting is full of choices. Let us help make nutrition one less thing to worry about.

👉 Explore Avacare Child Multi and support your child’s wellbeing every day.

👉 Read more on our blog: Are “Healthy” Cereals Really a Good Source of Vitamins?