Outdoor and in-store food advertising: food and health-related advertisements in neighbourhoods of low- and middle-socioeconomic status in Stockholm, Sweden

AIMS: This study examined the prevalence of outdoor and in-store food and health-related advertisements, and whether their distribution differed by neighbourhood socioeconomic status (SES) in Stockholm, Sweden. METHODS: test, while in-store advertisement counts were analysed using regression models tailored to outcome distributions. RESULTS: Most advertisements featured energy-dense, nutrient-poor (EDNP) foods and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs)-59 percent of outdoor advertisements and 65 percent of in-store advertisements. Although differences in the prevalence of outdoor and in-store advertisements were noted between low- and middle-SES neighbourhoods, these associations were not statistically significant following correction for multiple testing. CONCLUSION: Across all neighbourhoods, advertisements were dominated by unhealthy products, particularly EDNP foods and SSBs. Similar levels of exposure in low- and middle-SES neighbourhoods suggest that neighbourhood SES is not a key predictor of advertising patterns in Stockholm. These findings highlight a widespread exposure to unhealthy food advertising, underscoring the need for public health strategies to address environmental drivers of diet-related outcomes.