Objective: To examine: alcohol and fast food sponsorship of junior community sporting clubs; the association between sponsorship and club characteristics; and parent and club representative attitudes toward sponsorship. Methods: A cross‐sectional telephone survey of representatives from junior community football clubs across New South Wales and Victoria, Australia, and parents/carers of junior club members. Participants were from junior teams with Level 3 accreditation in the ‘Good Sports’ program. Results: A total of 79 club representatives and 297 parents completed the survey. Half of participating clubs (49%) were sponsored by the alcohol industry and one‐quarter (27%) were sponsored by the fast food industry. In multivariate analyses, the odds of alcohol sponsorship among rugby league clubs was 7.4 (95%CI: 1.8–31.0, p=<0.006) that of AFL clubs, and clubs located in regional areas were more likely than those in major cities to receive fast food industry sponsorship (OR= 9.1; 95%CI: 1.0–84.0, p=0.05). The majority (78–81%) of club representatives and parents were supportive of restrictions to prohibit certain alcohol sponsorship practices, but a minority (42%) were supportive of restrictions to prohibit certain fast food sponsorship practices. Conclusions: Large proportions of community sports clubs with junior members are sponsored by the alcohol industry and the fast food industry. There is greater acceptability for prohibiting sponsorship from the alcohol industry than the fast food industry. Implications for public health: Health promotion efforts should focus on reducing alcohol industry and fast food industry sponsorship of junior sports clubs.

Issues addressed To: (i) describe the prevalence of policies and practices promoting healthy eating implemented by sports clubs with junior teams; (ii) examine differences in such practices across geographic and operational characteristics of clubs; and (iii) describe the attitudes of club representatives and parents regarding the acceptability of sports clubs implementing policies and practices to promote healthy eating. Methods Cross‐sectional telephone surveys of junior community football club management representatives and parents/carers of junior players were conducted in the states of New South Wales and Victoria, Australia in 2016. Results Seventy‐nine of the 89 club representatives approached to participate completed the telephone survey. All clubs (100%; 95% CI 96.2‐100.0) reported recommending fruit or water be provided to players after games or at half‐time, 24% (95% CI 14.4‐33.7) reported promoting healthy food options through prominent positioning at point of sale and only 8% (95% CI 1.6‐13.6) of clubs had a written healthy eating policy. There were no significant differences between the mean number of healthy eating policies and practices implemented by club socio‐economic or geographic characteristics. Club representatives and parents/carers were supportive of clubs promoting healthy eating for junior players. Conclusions While there is strong support within sporting clubs with junior teams for policies and practices to promote healthy eating, their implementation is highly variable. So what? A considerable opportunity remains for health promotion policy and practice improvement in clubs with junior teams, particularly regarding policies related to nutrition.

No abstract

No abstract