Has your social media feed ever made you hungry?
For many young people, scrolling through platforms like Instagram or TikTok can feel like falling into an endless buffet of gooey burgers, frothy milkshakes and pillowy desserts.
It might seem harmless, even fun, but behind this constant stream of high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) content lies a growing public health concern. Being overweight is the second biggest cause of cancer in the UK after smoking, and rates of obesity are rising in young people.
Now, our new Digital Influence study, which surveyed more than 4,000 young people aged 11 to 21, has given us crucial new information about the unhealthy product marketing they’re exposed to online. It shows how much junk food content today’s young people seeing, how they’re engaging with it, and how it’s making them feel.
“Every two minutes” – the junk food flood
More than half (52%) of the young people who took part in the survey said they’d seen posts promoting HFSS products on social media in the past month, from a mix of businesses and influencers.
These posts are popular, as well as common. Nearly 4 in 10 of those who saw the posts said they engaged with them by liking, commenting or sharing. That number was higher for influencer content than it was for adverts from businesses.
As part of the study, 43 young people also took part in focus groups, and 46 used interactive tools to record and reflect on their social media use. Many described a constant stream of tempting content that left them feeling hungry, craving certain foods, or both.
“At least every two minutes that I’m on Instagram I’d see at least one food-related post,” said one 15-year-old participant. Another, aged only 11, had one post in particular on her mind. “[There] is a giant cookie bowl that also keeps showing up,” she said. “When I see it, I feel like ordering a dessert and I feel really hungry.”
Under the influence
Research has shown that simply seeing images of HFSS foods can trigger cravings that can take a lot of effort to resist. Our survey results show that many young people also welcome influencer-led HFSS content as a source of entertainment. Formats like taste tests and mukbangs (Korean for “eating broadcasts”) can feel like conversations or shared experiences. Some respondents reported that they actively seek out this kind of content, and spoke positively of how it helps them find new products to try.
That gets to why social media marketing is so powerful. Influencers make products and brands much more relatable, which means junk food can be promoted in ways that are hard to spot or understand. Some of the people who took part in the study even noted how hard it can be to tell if influencer content is marketing. That’s partly because some platforms don’t clearly mark promotional content, and partly because influencer posts don’t have what one young person called the “corporate advertising look” of posts from businesses.
As a result, many young people don’t recognise how frequently they’re being marketed to, or how it could be shaping their habits and affecting their health. Those who took part in the study expressed a belief that consuming HFSS foods was more about personal choice than exposure to advertising. “There’s nothing wrong with, like, promoting unhealthy food,” said one 13-year-old. “The viewers will know if they eat too much. It’s unhealthy, but in moderation, it’ll all be fine.”
That points to the fact that many people aren’t fully aware of how the wider environment can influence our food choices. A recent analysis of multiple studies also suggests that young people have difficulties understanding the intention behind adverts, including digital ones. This might make them more vulnerable to advertising, especially when it’s designed to engage them the way so much HFSS content does.
All this goes to show that current regulations aren’t doing enough to protect young people online. While some rules exist, they haven’t kept pace with the way young people experience social media, especially when it comes to influencer marketing.
“Advertising can shape what children eat, so the UK Government must help create an online environment that empowers, rather than undermines, healthy changes,” says Liv Cheek, our prevention policy manager.
That change needs to happen as soon as possible. Children who are obese are five times more likely to stay that way into adulthood, which puts them at a higher risk of developing cancer later in life. In England, 14% of 16 to 24-year-olds and 22% of children aged 10 to 11 are now living with obesity.
What’s being done?
In January 2026, new legislation will ban paid-for online advertising of specific HFSS products — including on social media — and introduce a 9pm TV watershed for junk food ads. Government modelling suggests this could reduce the number of children with obesity by more than 20,000.
But the changes have already faced repeated delays, and parts of the food and advertising industries have pushed to water them down. Without strong enforcement and adequate funding for regulators, loopholes could limit the legislation’s impact.
The Government’s 10-year health plan aims to shift the NHS from a “sickness service to a health service” by focusing on prevention. We support that vision, and our research shows that it will only be possible with bold action to protect young people from harmful marketing.
“Planned restrictions on junk food advertising online are a vital step to protect young people’s health,” says Cheek. “However, these measures must be properly enforced and strengthened by closing any remaining gaps in the online marketing rules. We urge the UK Government and regulators to take bold action to shield young people from harmful marketing that could increase their risk of obesity and cancer in the future.”