ArticleGlobalization and health2023
Digital marketing of commercial breastmilk substitutes and baby foods: strategies, and recommendations for its regulation in Mexico.
Article in Globalization and health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Outcomes of implementing the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes as national laws: a systematic review.International breastfeeding journal · 2024Pooled it
- The Corporate Political Activity of the infant commercial milk formula industry in Mexico during the COVID-19 pandemic.International breastfeeding journal · 2025Article
- Infant Formula in the Digital Age: How US Online Formula Marketing Targets Parents.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Article
- Digital Marketing Claims and Their Association With the Perceptions of Parents of Children Under 2 Years Old of Commercial Milk Formulas in Mexico.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Article
- Formative Research for the Development and Implementation of a Smartphone Application to Report Breaches to the International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes in Mexico.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Article
- Trends in commercial complementary food in Romanian infants-a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- Women's exposure to commercial milk formula marketing: a WHO multi-country market research study.Globalization and health · 2024Article
- Commercial milk formula marketing entry points: setting the course of infant and young child feeding trajectories.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Survey of Emotional Themes Used in Marketing of Commercial Baby Foods in the UK-Implications for Nutrition Promotion in Early Childhood.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- How the marketing practices of commercial milk formula companies impact infant breastfeeding practices in China.BMJ global health · 2023Article
- Digital marketing of formula and baby food negatively influences breast feeding and complementary feeding: a cross-sectional study and video recording of parental exposure in Mexico.BMJ global health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundParents are exposed to breastmilk substitutes and baby foods marketing on the internet and social media, which hinders adequate breastfeeding and complementary feeding. This study identifies digital marketing strategies for breastmilk substitutes, specifically commercial milk formula and baby foods used by the industry to influence infant and young children's feeding practices in Mexico and proposes regulatory recommendations that can be useful for similar countries.
methodsQualitative study based on the CLICK monitoring framework developed by the World Health Organization, adapted for digital marketing of commercial milk formula and baby foods. Semi-structured interviews (n = 53) with key actors were conducted between November 2020 and March 2021, and used grounded theory for the analysis and interpretation with the MAXQDA 20 software.
resultsCommercial milk formula and baby food companies use digital media to contact and persuade parents to use their products by sending electronic newsletters with advertising. Companies hire influencers to market their products because there is no regulation prohibiting the advertisement of breastmilk substitutes on social media, and promote formula among health professionals inviting them to participate in sponsored webinars on infant nutrition, ignoring conflict of interest and the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. Parents trust formula and baby food advertisements, which use emotional messages and health and nutrition claims to encourage their consumption. Health professionals consider that claims contribute to the indiscriminate use of formula, and some actors propose the use of plain packaging for these products.
conclusionsBreastmilk substitutes companies promote their products in digital media using unethical strategies that fail to comply with the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. They generate strong conflicts of interest with health professionals, taking advantage of legal framework gaps and the lack of monitoring and effective sanctions for non-compliers. Updating the legal framework and monitoring compliance, including digital media, is urgently needed to protect children's right to breastfeeding, healthy nutrition and life, and the rights of women to health and informed decision-making.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.