food marketing to children in sport - nutrition connections

Food Marketing to Children in Sport

Associate Professor Bridget Kelly Australian Research Council Fellow PhD, MPH, B.Science (Nutrition) Hons [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Pu

blic

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Scope of sponsorship of children’s sport

Scope of sponsorship of elite sport

Impact of sponsorship

Support for intervention

Assessment of policy options


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Kelly B, Baur LA, Bauman AE, King L, Chapman K, Smith BJ. Food and drink sponsorship of children’s sport in Australia: who pays? Health Promotion International 2011, 26 (2): 188-195.

What Sponsors Received

Sponsorship benefit Food & drink

sponsors

(n = 58)

n (%)

Non-food

sponsors

(n = 289)

n (%)

Uniform signage 31 (53) 158 (55)

Official club sponsors 30 (52) 200 (69)

Listed in newsletters 17 (29) 80 (28)

Signage at the club (billboards etc) 16 (28) 99 (34)

Club sells/uses sponsor’s product 16 (28) 14 (5)

Sport awards using sponsor’s name 14 (24) 7 (2)

Listed on club website 9 (16) 102 (35)

Announced over PA system 8 (14) 49 (17)

Invited to club events/presentations 6 (10) 20 (7)

What Sponsors Provided

Sponsorship support Food & drink

sponsors

(n = 58)

n (%)

Non-food

sponsors

(n = 289)

n (%)

Direct funding 24 (41) 239 (83)

Vouchers to players 17 (29) 9 (3)

Other 13 (22) 44 (15)

Free/discounted products for players 2 (3) 23 (8)

Uniforms 1 (2) 20 (7)

Equipment 1 (2) 6 (2)

Free/discounted products for spectators 1 (2) 0 (0)

Children’s Exposures to Sport Sponsorships (5-14 yrs)

Median weekly exposure (freq x duration) (mins)

Weekly ‘person-hours’ of exposure to sport (hours)

% clubs with food sponsorship

Weekly ‘person-hours’ of exposure to food sponsorship (hours)

Rugby league 180 84,883 75% 63,662

Cricket

(outdoor)

240 135,400 42% 56,900

Soccer

(outdoor)

120 182,400 25% 45,600

Athletics 120 51,100 75% 38,325

Basketball 120 110,500 25% 27,600

Kelly B, Bauman AE, Baur, LA. Population estimates of Australian children’s exposure to food and beverage sponsorship of sports clubs. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 2014. 17(4): 394-8.

Children’s Sport Development Programs

Watson et al. Sponsorship of junior sport development programs in Australia. Aust NZ J Public Health. 2016; 40:326-8;

Scope of sponsorship of elite sport • Content analysis of 3 major cricket matches in 2008:

- Sponsors were KFC and XXXX Gold beer - Sponsor’s logos were identifiable for 44% to 74% of the game time

Sherriff et al. (2010), Cricket: notching up runs for food and alcohol companies?. ANZJPH, 34: 19–23.

• Content analysis of 2 weeks of TV sports programming (FTA and Fox Sports) • Assessment of in-game promotions for 2 sports (AFL, cricket)

- 11% of ads during sports programs were for ‘junk’ food vs. 5% during other programs

- In-game screen time for ‘junk’ food and alcohol ranged from 12% (AFL) to 61% (Cricket T20) of total screen time

VicHealth (2015). Alcohol and junk food advertising and promotion through sport. Available from: https://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/media- and-resources/publications/alcohol-and-junk-food-advertising

Impact of Junior Sport Sponsorship: Value of Sponsorship Activities

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Liked them more Liked the same Liked them less

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hild

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Vouchers

Certificates

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Kelly B et al. “Food company sponsors are kind, generous and cool”: (Mis)conceptions of junior sports players. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2011, 8(95): doi:10.1186/479-5868-8-95.

Impact of Junior Sport Sponsorship: Food Preferences & Purchases

85% - thought that food companies sponsored sport to help out clubs

69% - thought food sponsors were ‘cool’

66% - thought other children bought food/drinks because of sponsorship

59% - liked to return the favour by buying sponsors’ products

10

Kelly B et al. “Food company sponsors are kind, generous and cool”: (Mis)conceptions of junior sports players. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2011, 8(95): doi:10.1186/479-5868-8-95.

Impact of Elite Sport Sponsorship: Perceptions of Sponsors

Kelly et al (2013). Views of children and parents on limiting unhealthy food, drink and alcohol sponsorship of elite and children's sports. Public Health Nutrition,16(1), 130-135.

Impact of Elite Sport Sponsorship: Food Preferences & Purchases

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Felt better Felt the same Felt worse Buy more Buy the same Buy less

Attitude to company Product purchases

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f ch

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(%

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Food / drink sponsors

Non-food sponsors

Alcohol sponsors


Support for Sponsorship Restrictions: Junior Sport Community

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Elite sport Sports clubs

% R

esp

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s

Very likely tosupport

Likely tosupport

Kelly B et al (2012). Restricting unhealthy food sponsorship: attitudes of the sporting community. Health Policy ; 104 (3): 288-295.

Support for Sponsorship Restrictions in the Case of Increased Sport Costs


Support, even if increased cost

Support but not if increased cost

Support

Do not support Do not support

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Athlete Opposition to Unhealthy Product Sponsorship

• Survey of athletes’ (n = 1990) perceptions of unhealthy product sponsorship - Female athletes were more opposed to unhealthy food and alcohol

advertising in sport (56% vs. 39%) and by elite athletes (85 vs. 66%) than males

- Acceptance of unhealthy sponsorship was associated with personal unhealthy behaviours

Grunseit et al. (2012), Australian athletes' health behaviours and perceptions of role modelling and marketing of unhealthy products. HPJA, 23 (1): 63-9.

Potential Solutions For Healthful Sponsorship

• Compensatory funding (Government driven) - Similar to Health Promotion Foundations in Vic, WA and the ACT - Established to offset revenue losses after tobacco sponsorship

restrictions • Sponsorship guidelines (Sport sector driven) - Guide the acceptability of sponsors

• Centralised funding system (Industry & NGO driven) - Reduces promotional opportunities at individual clubs

• Pro-health messaging (Government or NGO driven) - Counter unhealthful promotions

Healthway (Western Australia): Healthy Promotion Sponsorships

• 3 categories: <$5,000; $5,000-$50,000; >$50,000 • Clubs must meet minimum criteria for healthy clubs: - To facilitate structural and policy change within organisations and

venues to create healthy environments - To reduce the promotion of unhealthy messages or brands MUST comply with Healthway’s co-sponsorship conditions • Clubs required to provide details of existing food, drink and alcohol

sponsors • Undertake risk management to identify appropriateness of existing

sponsors

Early on - 2011

Later – 2013

Key Features Scoping studies

Centralised Funding: NSW Sports Sponsorship Foundation

1. Acquisition of Foundation contributions

- Requires PR opportunities for corporate sponsors

2. Development of health

promoting standards for sports clubs

- Minimum standards for the development of supportive environments for heath

Feasibility study - Interviews with

corporate sector to gauge interest

- Business plan for Foundation including performance indicators

Developing guidelines for health promoting sports clubs

- Delphi survey with ‘experts’

- Consultation with sports sector

DELPHI SURVEY HEALTH PROMOTION STANDARDS FOR SPORTS CLUBS

Top 5 priority standards for sports clubs

1. Abide by responsible alcohol practices

2. Availability of healthy food and drinks at sports canteens and reduced availability/portion size of unhealthy items

3. All areas (indoor and outdoor) and activities under organisation's control are completely smoke-free

4. Restriction of the sale and consumption of alcohol during junior sporting events and training

5. Restricting unhealthy food and drink companies from sponsoring clubs

Kelly B et al. (2014). Identifying important and feasible policies and actions for health at community sports clubs: a consensus-generating approach. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. 17(1):61-6

Corporate Interviews: Concept Appraisal

It’s good to address complex

issues like this one at

different levels on a

continuum of change, for

example awareness, change

behaviour, policy change (Corporate philanthropic foundation)

I like the

personalised

approach with an

individual action plan

for each local sport

club (Corporate philanthropic

foundation)

Can’t compete

against

advertising dollars

from junk food

companies (Corporate

philanthropic

foundation)

Limiting sponsorship in a sport

setting will have a negative

impact on sport clubs…should

encourage as much funding as

possible so children have more

facilities & opportunities for

participating in sport activities (Non-aligned corporate)

CCNSW Healthy Sports Initiative • Pilot 3-year membership program for cricket clubs in NSW • 30 clubs currently participating • Incorporates the Health Promotion Standards

• Formative work in 2015 identified that: - 76% of clubs were not thinking about introducing

sponsorship policies (pre-contemplation) - ~ 40% thought restricting unhealthy sponsorship and

fundraising was a high priority and that it would be feasible

Counter Marketing: Pro-Health Sponsorship

• Between-subjects RCT (n = 1,124; 5-10yrs) • Children allocated to one of 4 junior sport

sponsorship conditions • RESULTS: - No effect of the unhealthy food brand

(ceiling effect?) - Increased awareness of the healthy food

brand but no change to preferences for healthy brands

- Obesity-prevention campaign brand (OR = 0.67) and the healthy food brand (OR = 0.6) led to a significant reduction in preference for unhealthy food products

Dixon et al. Community junior sport sponsorship: an on-line experiment assessing children’s responses to unhealthy food vs. pro-health sponsorship options. Public Health Nutrition, 2018, 21(6):1176-85.

A. Non-food branding B. Unhealthy food

branding

C. Healthier food

branding D. Obesity prevention

campaign branding

Policy Challenges & Opportunities

• Competing priorities / sport delivery as core business High issue engagement and support for sponsorship

restrictions from the sports community • Volunteerism in junior sport Make changes easy to do (at the club level) but restricting

sponsorship is seen as feasible and a priority

• Financial viability of clubs a major concern Replacement sponsorship possible from Gov. but not

industry

An “Offensive Game Strategy” (aka policy-driven research agenda)


Unhealthy food sponsorship widespread across sports clubs and development programs Relatively less direct club funding ? Financial value of food sponsorships


Extensive televised promotion of food sponsors

Impact of sponsorship Effects brand perceptions/attitudes and reported purchases ? Unknown impact on actual food behaviours


High levels of support for restrictions from the junior sporting community and athletes


Value of pro-health counter sponsorships X Industry replacement sponsorship is not a viable option ? Case examples of successful sponsorship guidelines ? Cost benefit analyses of Gov. replacement sponsorship

• UK longitudinal study of adolescent boys (n = 1,268) (Charlton et al., 1997) - Boys who liked car racing were significantly more likely to recall cigarette brands

that were commonly associated with car racing sponsorship, and were more likely to smoke at follow-up

• Cross-sectional survey from Australia with 12-14 yr olds (Prichard, 1992) - Children’s preferences for cigarette brands varied according to their state’s major-

league football team’s sponsor

• Cross-sectional survey from India with 13-16 yr olds (n = 1,948) (Vaidya et al., 1996) - Experimentation with tobacco was significantly higher among adolescents who

watched a cricket series sponsored by a cigarette company, and this experimentation was influenced by the perception that smoking increased cricket performance

An “Offensive Game Strategy” (aka policy-driven research agenda)


Unhealthy food sponsorship widespread across sports clubs and development programs Relatively less direct club funding ? Financial value of food sponsorships


Extensive televised promotion of food sponsors

Impact of sponsorship Effects brand perceptions/attitudes and reported purchases ? Unknown impact on actual food behaviours


High levels of support for restrictions from the junior sporting community and athletes


Value of pro-health counter sponsorships X Industry replacement sponsorship is not a viable option ? Case examples of successful sponsorship guidelines ? Cost benefit analyses of Gov. replacement sponsorship

Contact: Bridget Kelly [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

food marketing to children in sport - nutrition connections

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