Unhealthy food sports sponsors may be making kids fatter

By Isobel Williams via SWNS

Children’s sports sponsors may be contributing to obesity rates, a new study has suggested.

Researchers recommend companies that produce unhealthy food should not be allowed to sponsor children's sport

The Canadian research found that many children view food companies that sponsor or give money to children’s sports as being “generous” or “cool” and think that they do so to help the team out.

But in fact their sponsorship just encourages kids to eat their products.

The researchers were concerned by their findings, which will be presented at the European Congress on Obesity.

Lead author and PhD candidate Elise Pauzé from the University of Ottawa said: “Many children in Canada have poor diets.

“They don’t eat enough fruit and vegetables and they get more than half of their calories on average from ultra-processed foods which are typically high in nutrients of public health concern like free sugars, salt and saturated fats.

“While there are a lot of factors that shape children’s diet, exposure to unhealthy food marketing has been identified as a particularly influential driver of children’s preferences for, and intake of, unhealthy foods.

“Despite this, few studies have looked at the impact of sponsorship of children’s sports.

"We wanted to examine the association between children’s exposure to sponsorship-related food marketing and their perception of companies and their desire to purchase their products.”

For the study, 1,020 children aged 10-17 years living in Ontario and Quebec completed an online survey in February-April 2023.

Those who reported playing on a sports team outside of school in the last year were asked whether they had been exposed to five types of sponsorship-related food marketing in this setting: branded awards; branded uniforms, equipment or other items provided by their teams; signs; free food; coupons/gift certificates.

They found that 71 percent of the children reported exposure to at least one type of food marketing when playing sports.

The children were then asked if they agreed with a range of statements about the sponsorship of children’s sports by food companies and could indicate whether they agreed, disagreed or didn’t know.

Most of the children agreed that food companies sponsor or give money to children’s sports teams to help them out or to encourage people to buy their products.

The researchers also saw that children who reported being exposed to branded uniforms, equipment or other items provided by their team were 1.9 times more likely to agree that food companies sponsor children sports to help them out.

The majority of the children agreed that food companies that sponsor or give money to children’s sports teams are generous (72 percent) and cool (68 percent).

And 58 percent of the children agreed that they would want to buy a product from a food company if they sponsored or gave money to their sports team.

The research team finds these results concerning, as the brands sponsoring children’s teams tend to be unhealthy fast-food brands.

Pauzé added: “We found that children who viewed sponsorship-related food marketing when playing sports in the last year were more likely to view food companies who sponsor children’s sports and their intentions favorably.

"They were also more likely to express a desire to buy products from these companies.

“This is concerning as companies who sponsor children’s sports in Canada and other countries are often associated with unhealthy food (e.g. fast-food restaurants).

“Such research could help inform policies aimed at protecting children from the influence of unhealthy food marketing.”