Ads for junk food in the UK seem to be concentrated in poorer areas

By Donna Lu

Outdoor adverts for unhealthy foods are more likely to be found in poorer areas

Rebecca Eva Perry / Alamy

Billboards advertising unhealthy food are concentrated in poorer areas and areas with a higher proportion of overweight children in Liverpool, UK. These findings may also apply across the country.

Using a combination of artificial intelligence and street-view images, Mark Green and his colleagues at the University of Liverpool mapped the content and geographical location of more than 10,000 outdoor adverts in the city.

This kind of data is often held by private firms and wasn’t previously available publicly, says Green. …