Norwegian children receive advertising for gambling, alcohol, and plastic surgery

Plastic surgery

Eight out of ten children have received advertising for gambling, while half have received advertising for cosmetic treatment or plastic surgery new research shows.

Researchers at the SIFO Consumer Research Institute, which is part of Oslo Met, asked thousands of teenagers about advertising and privacy last year.

In the nationwide survey, the researchers found disturbing findings, wrote NRK news.

The findings show, among other things, that almost 80% have received advertising for gambling, 48% have received advertising for plastic surgery or cosmetic treatment with Botox, and 25% have received advertising for alcohol.

About eight out of ten responded that they do not want this type of marketing.

‘’It is a remarkably high number. We were simply surprised by how many children in Norway stated that they have been exposed to marketing for alcohol, gambling and Botox’’ said researcher Thea Grav Rosenberg.

Marketing of cosmetic interventions, gambling and alcohol aimed at children is illegal in Norway. But often such type of marketing happens through social media, which are media many young people use in everyday life.

The Consumer Authority is critical of the practice, and director of the Consumer Authority, Elisabeth Lier Haugseth, told NRK that they can shut down and make decisions with financial sanctions if the clinics and companies do not change the practice.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today