Before the first school bell rings, before homework, before practice, children have already seen dozens of branded messages. They are on screens, on streets, in stores, in content that blends entertainment and promotion so seamlessly it barely feels like advertising at all. But how much food and beverage marketing do kids actually absorb in a single day? And what happens when a large share of that exposure promotes products high in fat, sugar and salt, especially in a country where every third child lives with overweight or obesity?
Drawing on new research by the Croatian Institute for Public Health on children’s exposure to advertising around schools, this panel brings together Lidija Gamulin (Head of Partnerships, UNICEF), Maja Lang Morović, phD (Head of Health Promotion in the Communities Department, Health Promotion Division, Croatian Institute of Public Health), Maja Baumschabel (Head of Operations, HURA & IAB Croatia), Una Zima (CEO, Spotstudio & Producer, Croatia film, Member of HURA & IAB Croatia) and Tatjana Katkić Stanić (Ombudsperson for Children) to unpack what the data really shows: where exposure happens, how frequent it is and which ads dominate. Together, they’ll explore what these findings mean for brands, agencies, media owners and policymakers — and what responsibility the communications industry carries in shaping the environments children grow up in.