Engineering appetite: commercial framing, ultra-processed products, and the information environment in Nigeria and Uganda

This study examines how commercial framing surrounding ultra-processed products (UPPs) and fast-food chains shape the information environment in Nigeria and Uganda. A qualitative multi-method research design was employed, integrating document review, structured observation of outdoor and point of sale advertising, radio monitoring, digital content analysis, and spatial mapping. Utilizing the Information Environment Assessment (IEA) framework, the study examined how commercial actors structure meaning, visibility, and policy discourse across interconnected domains of People and Community; Information Sources; Actors; and Policy, Process, and Enablers. Guided by critical anthropology and the Commercial Determinants of Health (CDoH), the analysis positions media manipulation as a form of epistemic governance embedded in broader political-economic systems. Data were collected from August 2025 to January in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kampala and Entebbe. The study comprised 82 purposively selected policy, academic, and corporate documents; 312 outdoor and point-of-sale advertisements; 96 h of radio broadcasting (148 advertisements); 420 digital promotional artifacts from Instagram, Facebook; and spatial mapping of 214 fast-food outlets. In total, 1,164 units were thematically coded using an Information Environment Assessment (IEA) framework across People and community, Information Sources, Actors, and Policy, Process, and enablers. The multimethod approach enabled triangulation of findings across documentary, media, digital, and spatial sources. Findings demonstrate recurring commercial framing through aspirational urban identity, moderation rhetoric, billboard saturation, sports sponsorship, influencer promotion, health-halo packaging, corporate social responsibility campaigns, and economic narratives in policy discourse. The study highlights the importance of examining food related information environment as interconnected system rather than isolated communication channels.