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Unhealthy foods, nonalcoholic beverages frequently promoted in sports
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Food and nonalcoholic beverage sponsorships featured in televised sports broadcasts make up 18.8% of all sponsorships of these athletic organizations, with over 75% of foods demonstrating poor nutritional scores and over 50% of beverages sweetened with sugar.
“Poor diet is a significant driver of childhood obesity and is associated with a number of serious illnesses,” Marie A. Bragg, PhD, from the department of population health in the School of Medicine and the College of Global Public Health at New York University, and colleagues wrote. “Food marketing is one factor that contributes to poor diet among youth. Exposure to food advertisements can influence children’s food preferences and purchase requests and can lead to increased short-term food consumption, even for foods that are not shown in the advertisement.”
To examine how the marketing of food and nonalcoholic beverages through professional sports sponsorships affect children who watch these events, the researchers conducted a descriptive study in which data collected from the Nielsen audience were assessed for 10 different sports organizations. Specifically, the viewing habits of children between the ages of 2 and 17 years who watched these events in 2015 were analyzed.
Bragg and colleagues then recognized associated sponsors of the organizations and categorized them based on the type of product they provide. Sponsorships that promoted food or nonalcoholic beverages, or both, advertised on television, YouTube and websites managed by sports organizations between 2006 and 2016. Additionally, the researchers calculated the view rates of these advertisements on YouTube, and they evaluated the nutritional quality of the products promoted in these sponsorships.
Of the 10 organizations examined, the researchers observed that children viewed these telecasts more than 412 million times. These organizations were sponsored by 44 companies endorsing food or nonalcoholic beverages, or both, encompassing 18.8% of all sponsors. Food and nonalcoholic beverages were the second most prevalent sponsorships, with 46 automotive sponsorships observed.
When individual sports organizations were assessed, Bragg and colleagues observed that the National Football League was the most heavily sponsored by food and nonalcoholic beverage companies, with 10 sponsors noted. The National Hockey League (n = 7) and Little League (n = 7) were the second and third most sponsored organizations.
Bragg and colleagues also observed that of the 273 commercials that focused on food or nonalcoholic beverages, or both, products were featured 328 times, with logos appearing 83 times. The researchers note that some commercials featured multiple products. Over three-fourths of foods featured were deemed unhealthy through their nutrition scores (76%), and over half of the nonalcoholic beverages promoted through these sponsorships were sweetened with sugar (52.4%). Advertisements aired on YouTube were watched 195.6 million times.
“The promotion of unhealthy foods and beverages during sports is especially concerning because study authors have shown that up to 76% of children surveyed can recall at least one food company that sponsors a sports organization,” Bragg and colleagues wrote. “… If these sponsorship commercials are showing during televised sports programs, these data reveal that sports sponsorships enable food and nonalcoholic beverage companies that made Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative pledges to expose children to unhealthy products while ostensibly complying with their pledge.” – by Katherine Bortz
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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