Food and beverage company sponsorship of children's sport: publicity or philanthropy?

Abstract

While the causes of obesity are complex and many, children’s exposure to food marketing affects the food and drinks that children prefer, request, purchase and consume. Sport sponsorship is a significant form of marketing that, when directed at children’s activities, allows brands to be embedded within children’s experiences of entertainment and socialisation. The research outlined in this thesis aimed to determine the scope of unhealthy food and beverage sponsorship of children’s sport in New South Wales (NSW), Australia; the effect of this sponsorship on children; and potential solutions to create healthier sponsorship. Six studies were conducted: i) a telephone survey with officials from randomly sampled sports clubs in NSW (n = 108); and ii) a website analysis of peak sporting organisations (n = 55) to determine sponsorship arrangements; iii) an analysis of children’s sport participation from the Exercise, Recreation and Sport Survey 2009/10, to estimate sponsorship exposure; iv) interviews at clubs with parents (n = 200), children (n = 103) and officials (n = 40); and v) a representative telephone survey of parents (n = 825) and online survey of children (n = 243) across NSW, to determine attitudes to sponsorship, and vi) a Delphi survey of experts (n = 18) in health promotion and sport explored standards for health promoting sports clubs. A large number of sponsors were identified at sports clubs and for peak sporting organisations, with 9% to 17% being food or beverage companies. Most food companies did not meet independently-developed criteria for healthy sponsors. Children perceived sponsors to have positive brand attributes, with the greatest proportion agreeing that sponsors were ‘cool’, exciting and fun. Children also reported that sponsorship encouraged them to purchase sponsors’ products. Parents and the junior sporting community were supportive of regulatory interventions to restrict unhealthy food and beverage company sponsorship at children’s sport. Unhealthy food and beverage sponsorship of children’s sport is widespread and influences children’s perceptions of these companies and reported purchasing habits. Regulatory action is required to reduce children’s exposure to this marketing. Such regulatory intervention is possible and is unlikely to have a significant impact on the financial capability of the community sport sector.