The second in a series of reports detailing the abusive marketing practices used by the US$55 billion infant formula industry, shows that parents and especially mothers are insidiously and constantly targeted online
Infant formula manufacturers pay social media platforms and influencers to get direct access to pregnant women and mothers at times in their lives when they are most vulnerable. The global infant formula industry, worth an estimated US$55 billion, targets new mothers on social media with personalized content that is often not recognizable as advertising.
A new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) entitled Reach and impact of digital marketing for the promotion of breastmilk substitutes sheds light on digital marketing techniques meant to influence new families’ decisions about feeding their babies.
Through tools such as apps, virtual support groups or “baby clubs”, paid social media influencers, promotions, contests and forums or consulting services, formula manufacturers for infants may purchase or collect personal information and send personalized promotions to pregnant women and mothers of newborns.
The report synthesizes the findings of new research for which four million posts relating to newborn feeding on social media between January and June 2021 were sampled and analyzed using a business intelligence platform on social networks. These posts reached 2.47 billion people and generated more than 12 million likes, shares or comments.
Infant formula manufacturers post content to their social media accounts about 90 times a day and reach 229 million users; which is three times the number of people reached by breastfeeding information messages posted on non-commercial accounts.
This pervasive marketing increases sales of breastmilk substitutes and at the same time deters mothers from exclusive breastfeeding, as recommended by the WHO.
For Dr. Francesco Branca, Director of the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety at the WHO, “Several decades ago, an end should have been put to the promotion of commercial infant formula. The fact that the manufacturers of these preparations are now using even more powerful and insidious marketing techniques to increase their sales is inexcusable. This must stop. »
The report draws on evidence from public communications watches posted on social media and country reports analyzing promotions for breast-milk substitutes, as well as a recent multi-country study of mothers and professionals to understand their feelings about the marketing of infant formula. Study sheds light on how deceptive marketing reinforces misconceptions about breastfeeding and breastmilk, and undermines women’s confidence in their ability to meet the nutritional needs of their newborns through breastfeeding .
The proliferation of global digital marketing of infant formula is in clear contravention of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes (the “Code”), adopted by the World Health Assembly in 1981. This landmark public health agreement aims to to protect populations and mothers against aggressive marketing practices by the infant food industry, which undermine breastfeeding practices.
Despite clear data demonstrating that exclusive and continued breastfeeding is a key factor in improving the health of children, women and populations throughout life, too few children are breastfed, as advocated the recommendations. If current infant formula marketing strategies continue, the share of children breastfed could decline further, boosting corporate profits.
The fact that these forms of digital marketing may escape the scrutiny of national monitoring and health authorities illustrates the need for new approaches to regulating the implementation of the Code and enforcing its provisions. Currently, national laws can be circumvented by marketing activities from cross-border countries.
WHO has called on the infant food industry to end abusive infant formula marketing practices, and on governments to protect newborns and families through enactment, monitoring and enforcement. laws prohibiting the advertising and promotion of infant formula.
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Note to Editors
A few words about research
Data on exposure to digital marketing of breast-milk substitutes and its impact was collected from several sources for the purpose of this report. We thus methodically examined the literature, research related to monitoring on social networks, a multi-country study of mothers and health professionals aimed at better understanding their feelings about the marketing of breast-milk substitutes, country reports on promotions of breast-milk substitutes and an analysis of existing legal measures to enforce the Code.
WHO has established an external steering committee of experts drawn from the regions of the Organization to guide the design and methodology of the review and report. Specialists have been selected for their expertise in social sciences, epidemiology, marketing, global health, nutrition, consumer psychology and behavior, human rights law, and monitoring and enforcement policies. Coded. These specialists came from all WHO regions except the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
WHO was using a social media monitoring platform for the first time to better understand the marketing practices of multinational infant formula manufacturers and distributors. Social media monitoring platforms track mentions of defined keywords or phrases on social media, which are collected, organized and analyzed. This standard industry practice “listens” to the billions of threads and conversations posted daily by social media users around the world on their accounts and other digital spaces like websites and forums.
This survey collected digital interactions that occurred between the 1is January and 30 June 2021 and referenced infant feeding in eleven languages and seventeen countries, which together cover 61% of the world’s population in the six WHO regions.
About WHO
The World Health Organization is the lead agency for health in the United Nations system. Founded in 1948, WHO works with 194 Member States, in six regions and more than 149 offices, to promote health, safeguard global security and serve vulnerable populations. Our goal for 2019-2023 is to ensure that a billion more people benefit from universal health coverage, that a billion more people are better protected against emergencies and that a billion more people benefit from better health and well-being.
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