Resumen de The Presence and Promotion of Foods and Beverages in the YouTube Channels of The World’s Most Influential kid YouTubers: A Comparative Study Between the United States and Spain

Esther Martínez-Pastor, David Atauri Mezquida , Ricardo Vizcaíno Pérez , Clara Simón de Blas

• This study aims to determine the different types of foods and beverages that predominate in the channels of kid youtubers in Spain and the United States, which serve as a model for children’s nutritional habits. The study looked at a sample of 18 YouTube channels and 553 videos from a universe of 1551 videos. Four main conclusions have been drawn: there are significant differences depending on the origin of the channels, with a greater presence of oils, fats and meat in Spanish channels, and of cereals, chocolates, sugar and fruit in channels from the United States; in 60% of the videos, brands are being promoted (without appropriate identification), with statistically significant differences according to the country of origin; the main communication objective is a promotional objective, with differences according to country, being more educational/promotional in the United States and more focused on entertainment/promotion in Spain; and in 16% of cases, the children showed excessive or compulsive consumption —the videos do not appear to promote, in general, healthy nutritional habits.