Sponsorship and fund-raising in New Zealand schools: implications for health

Food and beverage marketing in primary and secondary schools in Canada

BACKGROUND

Unhealthy food marketing is considered a contributor to childhood obesity. In Canada, food marketing in schools is mostly self-regulated by industry though it is sometimes restricted through provincial school policies. The purpose of this study was to document the type of food marketing activities occurring in Canadian schools and examine differences by school characteristics.

METHODS

An online survey was sent to public primary and secondary schools from 27 school boards in Ontario, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia and was completed by 154 Principals in spring 2016. This survey queried the type of food marketing occurring in schools including advertisements, food product displays, fundraising, exclusive marketing agreements, and incentive programs, among others. The occurrence of food marketing was described using frequencies, medians, and ranges. Chi-square and Fisher Exact tests were conducted to assess school-level differences in the frequency of marketing activities by school type (primary versus secondary), province (Ontario versus British Columbia), and the socio-economic status of most students (low versus middle/high income). The significance level was set at α < 0.05 for all tests.

RESULTS

Overall, 84% of schools reported at least one type of food marketing and the median number of distinct types of marketing per school was 1 (range 0-6). The most frequently reported forms of marketing were the sale of branded food, particularly chocolate, pizza, and other fast food, for fundraising (64% of schools); food advertisements on school property (26%), and participation in incentive programs (18%). Primary schools (n = 108) were more likely to report participating in incentive programs (25%) and selling branded food items (72%) compared to secondary schools (n = 46; 2 and 43% respectively; p < 0.01). Conversely, secondary schools were more likely to report food advertising on school property (56%), exclusive marketing arrangements with food companies (43%), and food product displays (19%) than primary schools (13, 5 and 2%, respectively; p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

The presence of food marketing in most participating schools suggests that the current patchwork of policies that restrict food marketing in Canadian schools is inadequate. Comprehensive restrictions should be mandated by government in both primary and secondary schools to protect children and youth from this marketing.

Child-care nutrition environments: results from a survey of policy and practice in New Zealand early childhood education services

Objective:

To describe nutrition environments in formal child care for 3- and 4-year-olds.

Design:

Cross-sectional online survey of nutrition-related child-care policy and practice. Written nutrition policies were analysed using the Wellness Child Care Assessment Tool.

Setting:

Licensed child-care services in the Auckland, Counties Manukau and Waikato regions of New Zealand.

Subjects:

Eight hundred and forty-seven services (private and community day care, kindergartens and playcentres).

Results:

Managers/head teachers of 257 child-care services completed the survey. Of services, 82·4 % had a written food, nutrition or wellness policy. Most policies did not refer to the national Food and Nutrition Guidelines and lacked directives for staff regarding recommended behaviours to promote healthy eating. Food was provided daily to children in 56·4 % of child-care services, including 33·5 % that provided lunch and at least two other meals/snacks every day. Teachers talked to children about food, and cooked with children, at least weekly in 60 % of child-care services. Nearly all services had an edible garden (89·5 %). Foods/beverages were sold for fundraising in the past 12 months by 37·2 % of services. The most commonly reported barrier to promoting nutrition was a lack of support from families (20·6 %).

Conclusions:

Although the majority of child-care services had a written nutrition policy, these were not comprehensive and contained weak statements that could be difficult to action. Foods served at celebrations and for fundraising were largely high in sugar, salt and/or saturated fat. Most services promoted some healthy eating behaviours but other widespread practices encouraged children to overeat or form unhealthy food preferences.

Monitoring food and non-alcoholic beverage promotions to children

Food and non-alcoholic beverage marketing is recognized as an important factor influencing food choices related to non-communicable diseases. The monitoring of populations' exposure to food and non-alcoholic beverage promotions, and the content of these promotions, is necessary to generate evidence to understand the extent of the problem, and to determine appropriate and effective policy responses. A review of studies measuring the nature and extent of exposure to food promotions was conducted to identify approaches to monitoring food promotions via dominant media platforms. A step-wise approach, comprising 'minimal', 'expanded' and 'optimal' monitoring activities, was designed. This approach can be used to assess the frequency and level of exposure of population groups (especially children) to food promotions, the persuasive power of techniques used in promotional communications (power of promotions) and the nutritional composition of promoted food products. Detailed procedures for data sampling, data collection and data analysis for a range of media types are presented, as well as quantifiable measurement indicators for assessing exposure to and power of food and non-alcoholic beverage promotions. The proposed framework supports the development of a consistent system for monitoring food and non-alcoholic beverage promotions for comparison between countries and over time.

Increases in support structures for healthy eating especially in low decile schools in New Zealand

OBJECTIVE

To compare two surveys conducted in 2007 and 2009, of the food and nutrition environment in New Zealand primary schools.

METHODS

A sample of primary schools was asked about foods and beverages provided or sold to students or used for fundraising, and nutrition-related policies and procedures. Comparisons were made between school decile groups and between years.

RESULTS

Of primary schools selling food or beverages, 34% sold 'everyday' items once or more a day (39% in 2007) and 25% sold 'occasional' items once or more a day (36% in 2007). Two-thirds of schools sold food or beverages for fundraising, generally once a term or less. About half the schools had written policies about food (increased from 2007).

CONCLUSION

There have been some improvements in the food and nutrition environment, with primary schools from lower deciles more likely to be making changes.

IMPLICATIONS

The reduction in funding for nutrition-related programs in primary schools may hinder the sustainability of the changes seen, especially in low decile schools.

A tale of missed opportunities: pursuit of a public health approach to gambling in New Zealand

AIM

This paper provides a critical overview a decade after the New Zealand Government announced its intention to formally incorporate a public health approach into its comprehensive revision of gambling legislation.

METHOD

The initial enthusiasm and the subsequent disillusionment with this approach are tracked. Four reasons for its lack of success are examined.

FINDINGS

The New Zealand experiment with a public health approach to gambling is seen to have floundered in a network of vested interests. The pathways for influence included inappropriate industry input as well as community and government sector reliance on gambling profits. The new legislation neglected to set up systems for strong independent accountability, and this weakened the potential of public health initiatives.

CONCLUSION

As with tobacco control, the policy integrity of a public health approach to gambling requires close attention to ways of reducing vested interests in both government and community sectors and to establishing strong points of independent accountability.

Patterns of sports sponsorship by gambling, alcohol and food companies: an Internet survey

Background

Sports sponsorship is a significant marketing tool. As such, it can promote products that pose risks to health (eg, high fat and high sugar foods) or it can promote health-supporting products (eg, sporting equipment and services). However, there is a lack of data on the proportion of sponsorship associated with "unhealthy" and "healthy" products and no methodology for systematically assessing it. This research aimed to explore this proportion with an Internet survey of sports sponsorship in the New Zealand setting.

Methods

A search methodology was developed to identify Internet-based evidence of sports sponsorship at the national level and at the regional and club level in one specific region (Wellington). The top eight sports for 5-17-year-olds were selected and products and services of sponsors were classified in terms of potential public health impact (using a conservative approach).

Results

Sponsorship of these popular sports was common at the national, regional and club levels (640 sponsors listed on 107 websites overall). Sports sponsorship associated with sponsors' products classified as "unhealthy" (eg, food high in fat and sugar, gambling and alcohol) were over twice as common as sponsorship associated with sponsors' products classified as "healthy" (32.7% (95% CI = 29.1, 36.5) versus 15.5% (95% CI = 12.8, 18.6) respectively). "Gambling" was the most common specific type of sponsorship (18.8%) followed by alcohol (11.3%).

There were significantly more "alcohol" sponsors for rugby, compared to all the other sports collectively (rate ratio (RR) = 2.47; 95% CI = 1.60, 3.79), and for top male sports compared to female (RR = 1.83; 95% CI = 1.05, 3.18). Also there was significantly more "unhealthy food" sponsorship for touch rugby and for "junior" teams/clubs compared to other sports collectively (RR = 6.54; 95% CI = 2.07, 20.69; and RR = 14.72, 95% CI = 6.22, 34.8; respectively). A validation study gave an inter-rater reliability for number of sponsors of 95% (n = 87 sponsors), and an inter-rater reliability of classification and categorisation of 100%.

Conclusion

This study found that the sponsorship of popular sports for young people is dominated by "unhealthy" sponsorship (ie, predominantly gambling, alcohol and unhealthy food) relative to "healthy" sponsorship. Governments may need to consider regulations that limit unhealthy sponsorship and/or adopt alternative funding mechanisms for supporting popular sports.