Association between exposure (self-report) of parents to digital marketing of formula and baby food, with the purchase of products, and breastfeeding and child feeding practices
| Exposure to digital marketing in the last month (self-report) | Purchase of formula and baby foods1 | Changes in child’s feeding2 | Exclusive breast feeding (0–5 months)3 | Continued breast feeding (12–23 months)4 | Mixed feeding4
(0–5 months) | Consumption of processed food5
(0–23 months) | Consumption of formula6
(0–23 months) | Consumption of sugary drinks7
(0–23 months) |
| OR (95% CI) | OR (95% CI) | OR (95% CI) | OR (95% CI) | OR (95% CI) | OR (95% CI) | OR (95% CI) | OR (95% CI) | |
| Frequency of digital marketing | ||||||||
| Never | (Ref) | (Ref) | (Ref) | (Ref) | (Ref) | (Ref) | (Ref) | (Ref) |
| 1–2 times/week | 1.9** | 1.1 | 1.74 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 0.86 | 0.89 | 1.05 |
| (1.11 to 3.38) | (0.68 to 1.92) | (0.67 to 4.57) | (0.71 to 2.14) | (0.4 to 3.0) | (0.55 to 1.36) | (0.59 to 1.33) | (0.63 to 1.75) | |
| 3–5 times/week | 2.7*** | 1.89** | 0.81 | 1.8** | 2.5* | 1.3 | 1.44* | 1.42 |
| (1.59 to 4.69) | (1.17 to 3.04) | (0.31 to 2.06) | (1.02 to 3.06) | (0.99 to 6.34) | (0.85 to 2.07) | (0.98 to 2.14) | (0.85 to 2.34) | |
| Daily | 2.3** | 1.99** | 0.93 | 1.9** | 1.8 | 0.94 | 1.2 | 1.13 |
| (1.23 to 4.35) | (1.16 to 3.42) | (0.33 to 2.56) | (1.03 to 3.73) | (0.65 to 5.88) | (0.57 to 1.57) | (0.77 to 1.90) | (0.35 to 1.28) | |
| Tertiles of the number of advertised products observed in digital media | ||||||||
| Tertile 1 | (Ref) | (Ref) | (Ref) | (Ref) | (Ref) | (Ref) | (Ref) | (Ref) |
| Tertile 2 | 1.4 | 1.51 | 0.63 | 1.21 | 1.18 | 1.60** | 1.07 | 1.06 |
| (0.88 to 2.11) | (1.0 to 2.24) | (0.31 to 1.29) | (0.79 to 1.85) | (0.56 to 2.49) | (1.12 to 2.26) | (0.79 to 1.45) | (0.71 to 1.57) | |
| Tertile 3 | 2.7*** | 2.99*** | 0.38** | 1.20 | 2.59** | 2.31*** | 1.84** | 1.66** |
| (1.6 to 4.5) | (2.03 to 4.4) | (0.19 to 0.78) | (0.77 to 1.86) | (1.28 to 5.21) | (1.59 to 3.32) | (1.34 to 2.53) | (1.09 to 2.54) | |
Online survey (n=1074).
*p<0.10, **p<0.05, ***p<0.001. Bold values are statistically significant at 90%, 95% or 99%. The logistic regression model adjusted for: the age of the baby (in months), age and sex of the survey participant, socioeconomic level, number of children, marital status, occupation, schooling and region of the country. (1) Parents who purchased formula and/or baby foods defined as commercial foods for children under 2 years of age, in the last month in physical or online stores. (2) Mothers/fathers who reported changing the way they were feeding their youngest children influenced by advertisements for formula and baby food observed in digital media. (3) Infants 0–5 months of age who were fed exclusively with breast milk during the previous day. 4 Children 12–23 months of age who were fed breast milk during the previous day. (4) Includes the consumption of human milk and plain water, human milk and animal milk/formula, human milk and non-dairy fluids, human milk and complementary feeding products. (5) Children 0–23 months who consumed packaged foods for babies, and other industrialised products that can be high in sugar, salt and/or unhealthy fats during the previous day. (6) Children 0–23 months that consumed infant formula (0–6 months), follow-on formula (6–12 months), growing-up milk (+12 months) and special formulas in the previous day. (7) Children 0–23 months who consumed commercially produced and packaged, sweetened beverages, including 100% fruit juice and fruit-flavoured drinks to which sweeteners have been added during the previous day.