In the wake of the global pandemic of obesity of the young generation in Europe, with varying prevalence depending on culture and television advertising consumption, the role of marketing communications in the process needs to be re-addressed. Hence, the manner in which the food and beverages are promoted to children in various geographical settings becomes crucial concern for not only parents and teachers, but also society as the whole, represented majorly by regulatory bodies. Previous research within the theme of the correlation between TV advertising and youth obesity have focused on the reaction of children and parents to the advertisements targeting children, mostly disregarding the actual content of the ads, the level of their influence on children and specific context in which this interaction occurs.

This paper analyses the determinants of schoolchildren’s food preferences, paying attention to the relative importance of child/parent, school and locality factors, using multilevel modelling. Urbanisation, location in a poorer neighbourhood, having a school lunch and some specific parental practices positively affect the range of foods and vegetables liked by children.