Food, fizzy, and football: promoting unhealthy food and beverages through sport - a New Zealand case study

We conducted a systematic review of 308 websites of national and regional New Zealand sporting organisations to identify food and beverage sponsors, which were then classified as healthy or unhealthy using nutrient criteria for energy, fat, sodium and fibre levels. We interviewed 18 key informants from national and regional sporting organisations about sponsorships.Food and beverage sponsorship of sport is not extensive in New Zealand. However, both healthy and unhealthy brands and companies do sponsor sport. Relatively few support their sponsorships with additional marketing. Interviews revealed that although many sports organisations felt concerned about associating themselves with unhealthy foods or beverages, others considered sponsorship income more important.While there is limited food and beverage sponsorship of New Zealand sport, unhealthy food and beverage brands and companies do sponsor sport. The few that use additional marketing activities create repeat exposure for their brands, many of which target children. The findings suggest policies that restrict sponsorship of sports by unhealthy food and beverage manufacturers may help limit children’s exposure to unhealthy food marketing within New Zealand sports settings. Given the global nature of the food industry, the findings of this New Zealand case study may be relevant elsewhere.High participation rates in formal sport and consistent pairing of recommendations linking physical activity and healthy eating [1-3] suggest sports settings may be ideal locations for encouraging improved nutrition. Studies in Australia have demonstrated how health sponsorship funding can create healthier environments in sports clubs [4-6].Although elite sports people understand the role diet plays in enhancing their performance [7], the sponsorship relationships between sporting organisations and food and beverage brands and companies do not always reinforce either sports-related or more general nutrition recommendations. For