Alcohol and fast food sponsorship in sporting clubs with junior teams participating in the ‘Good Sports’ program: a cross‐sectional study

Abstract

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.

A state-wide audit of unhealthy sponsorship within junior sporting clubs in Victoria, Australia

“…We also found that the odds of being affiliated with an unhealthy food and high-risk food sponsor were 2-3 fold greater for clubs located in regional compared with metro areas (no significant difference for alcohol and gambling sponsorship). These findings concur with those of Gonzalez et al who found that sporting clubs located in regional areas are more likely to be sponsored by fast-food companies compared with clubs located in metropolitan areas (25) . It is plausible that the regional difference relates to the greater number of all food sponsors (healthy and unhealthy) in regional areas, reflecting a greater reliance on sponsorship to cover operating costs of the club.…”

“…However, our findings are in accordance with a recent study by Gonzalez et al, which examined sponsorship arrangements across seventy-nine junior community sporting clubs (covering Australian rules football (AFL) and rugby league) in the Australian states of New South Wales and Victoria participating in the 'Good Sports Program'. Similar to our findings, the study found a high proportion of clubs were affiliated with an alcohol or fast-food company, with half the clubs sponsored by the alcohol industry and a quarter sponsored by fast-food companies (25) .…”

“…All sponsors were coded as 'alcohol', 'gambling', 'food/beverage' and 'other'. Pubs, hotels, liquor retailers and wineries were coded as 'alcohol', as per previous studies (25) . Sponsors were classified as 'gambling' if the sponsor was a gaming centre, casino or a community gambling venue (pub or club) with sports betting facilities or electronic gambling machines (also known as pokies, slot machines or fruit machines).…”

“…Australian community sporting clubs rely on sponsorship revenue for the viability of their clubs (23) . A small number of Australian studies have demonstrated that the prevalence of unhealthy food, beverage and alcohol sponsorship in community sporting clubs is high (21,24,25) . For example, Gonzalez et al concluded that 49 % of the junior clubs (Australian rules football and rugby league) that participated in their study (n 79) were sponsored by the alcohol industry and 27 % by the fast-food industry (25) .…”

“…A small number of Australian studies have demonstrated that the prevalence of unhealthy food, beverage and alcohol sponsorship in community sporting clubs is high (21,24,25) . For example, Gonzalez et al concluded that 49 % of the junior clubs (Australian rules football and rugby league) that participated in their study (n 79) were sponsored by the alcohol industry and 27 % by the fast-food industry (25) . Similarly, Ooi et al's observational study found that 26 % of thirtynine clubs (soccer, Australian rules football, rugby union and rugby league) in the state of New South Wales had sponsorship arrangements with fast-food or sweetenedbeverage companies, which was more common in regional areas than major cities (24) .…”