This event will examine how digital marketing of food and drinks across games, apps and online advertising shapes people’s eating habits and what current evidence and regulation tell us about its impact.
Digital marketing techniques are increasingly sophisticated and can be targeted at specific groups of the population. Evidence shows they can shape people's eating habits and increase the risk of ill health, including obesity.
Attend this event to learn how digital marketing impacts our health. Our expert speakers will discuss:
Findings from Safefood research on the marketing of food to children across the island of Ireland
Digital marketing strategies embedded in gaming
The role of food delivery apps in promoting certain foods and beverages
Current policies and legislation regulating the marketing of unhealthy food and drink
Programme
10:00 am – 10.15 am Welcome and Open – Chair: Dr Aileen McGloin, Safefood Opening Remarks: Association for the Study of Obesity Northern Ireland
10.15 am – 10.55 am CLICKBITE: Children's actual digital food marketing exposure on social media on the island of Ireland, and what children, parents and advertisers think about it.
TBC
10.55 am – 11:20 am Food Marketing in Gaming: Current Evidence and Future Research Directions
Speaker: Dr Rebecca Evans, University of Liverpool
11:20 am – 11:35 am Break
11:35 am – 11.55 am Monitoring Meal Delivery Apps: Evidence, Methods, and Opportunities to Inform Policy and Regulation
Speaker: Dr Nuwan Weerasinghe, WHO Regional Office
11:55 am – 12:15 pm Food Marketing Regulation and Childhood Obesity Prevention
Speaker: Prof. Amandine Garde, University of Liverpool
12:15 pm – 12:45 pm Questions and answer session
Panel
12.45 pm – 1:00 pm Closing remarks: Association for the Study of Obesity Ireland
Chair: Dr Aileen McGloin, Safefood
Speakers
Dr Nuwan Weerasinghe
WHO Regional Office for Europe
Dr Nuwan Weerasinghe is a consultant with the WHO Regional Office for Europe, specialising in digital food environments, unhealthy food marketing on social media, and the impact of meal delivery apps on obesity and noncommunicable diseases. His research has contributed to peer-reviewed studies on food pricing, promotions, and socioeconomic patterns within meal delivery platforms, with findings published in Public Health Nutrition and The Lancet Regional Health – Europe. Dr Weerasinghe has contributed to WHO’s Slide to Order reports and supports the development of data driven monitoring tools, including AI-enabled approaches under the WHO CLICK framework to assess children’s exposure to digital food marketing across social media and online platforms.
Dr Rebecca Evans
University of Liverpool
Rebecca is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Psychology at the University of Liverpool. She obtained her PhD in Psychology in 2024 – her thesis explored the extent and nature of digital food marketing via videogame livestreaming platforms and its impact on young people’s eating behaviour and health. Since obtaining her PhD, Rebecca has continued to research the effects of food marketing on various aspects of eating and has evaluated public health policy approaches, such as nutrition labelling, to promote healthier diets. Rebecca has been awarded the Nutrition Society Prize and the European Association for the Study of Obesity Best Thesis Award for her research. She was also selected to deliver the British Science Festival Social Sciences Award Lecture in recognition of her research and public engagement contributions.
Prof. Amandine Garde
University of Liverpool
Amandine Garde (PhD) is a Professor of Law at the University of Liverpool whose expertise lies at the crossroads of consumer protection, public health, food, European Union, human rights, and trade law and policy. In 2015, she established the Law & Non-Communicable Diseases Research Unit, which advises international organisations, civil society, public health agencies and governments on the effective regulation of the commercial determinants of health to promote better health for all. She is an honorary member of the UK Faculty of Public Health and a qualified (although non-practising) solicitor. She currently leads a three-year NIHR-funded project on trade and NCD prevention.
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