Are Big Food’s corporate social responsibility strategies valuable to communities? A qualitative study with parents and children

Richards, Zoe; Phillipson, Lyn

doi:10.1017/s1368980017002051

Cited by 8 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 24 publications

(73 reference statements)

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“…Numerous issues have been raised regarding the effectiveness and genuine intentions of these programs with some suggesting that these activities are in fact marketing or public relation tactics employed by companies to portray themselves in a positive light [12,[14][15][16][17][18]. For instance, the unhealthy nature of many items marketed by these companies runs contradictory to the healthy living ideals of many of their CSR initiatives.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The physical activity and nutrition-related corporate social responsibility initiatives of food and beverage companies in Canada and implications for public health

et al. 2020

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Background: As diet-related diseases have increased over the past decades, large food companies have come under scrutiny for contributing to this public health crisis. In response, the food industry has implemented Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives related to nutrition and physical activity to emphasize their concern for consumers. This study sought to describe the nature and targeted demographic of physical activity and nutrition-related CSR initiatives of large food companies in Canada and to compare companies who participate in the Canadian Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CAI), a self-regulatory initiative aimed at reducing unhealthy food advertising to children, with non-participating companies. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2016. Thirty-nine large food companies, including 18 participating in the CAI, were included in the study. The webpages, Facebook pages and corporate reports of these companies were surveyed to identify CSR initiatives related to nutrition and physical activity. Initiatives were then classified by type (as either philanthropic, education-oriented, research-oriented or other) and by targeted demographic (i.e. targeted at children under 18 years or the general population). Differences between CAI and non-CAI companies were tested using chi-square and Mann-Whitney U tests. Results: Overall, 63 CSR initiatives were identified; 39 were nutrition-related while 24 were physical activity-related. Most (70%) initiatives were considered philanthropic activities, followed by education-oriented (20%), researchoriented (8%) and other (2%). Almost half (47%; n = 29) of initiatives targeted children. Examples of child-targeted initiatives included support of school milk programs (n = 2), the sponsorship of children's sports programs (n = 2) and the development of educational resources for teachers (n = 1). There were no statistically significant differences in the number of CSR initiatives per company (CAI: Mdn = 1, IQR = 3; non-CAI: Mdn = 0, IQR = 2; p = .183) or the proportion of child-targeted initiatives (CAI: 42%; non-CAI: 54%; p = .343) between CAI and non-CAI companies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The physical activity and nutrition-related corporate social responsibility initiatives of food and beverage companies in Canada and implications for public health

et al. 2020

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“…A review of Australian food companies’ policies and commitments related to obesity prevention found many did not have policies on marketing food to children and, where present, restrictions were not strong enough to be effective [37,38]. Voluntary policies have been used to build brand reputation, appeal to parents and children through community activities and align with respected organisations [39], which was valued by parents and children [40].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Voluntary Policies on Parents’ Ability to Select Healthy Foods in Supermarkets: A Qualitative Study of Australian Parental Views

Pulker

Jordan

et al. 2019

IJERPH

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Food packaging is used for marketing purposes, providing consumers with information about product attributes at the point-of-sale and thus influencing food choice. The Australian government focuses on voluntary policies to address inappropriate food marketing, including the Health Star Rating nutrition label. This research explored the way marketing via packaging information influences Australian parents’ ability to select healthy foods for their children, and who parents believe should be responsible for helping them. Five 90-min focus groups were conducted by an experienced facilitator in Perth, Western Australia. Four fathers and 33 mothers of children aged 2–8 years participated. Group discussions were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim and inductive thematic content analysis conducted using NVivo11. Seven themes were derived: (1) pressure of meeting multiple demands; (2) desire to speed up shopping; (3) feeding them well versus keeping them happy; (4) lack of certainty in packaging information; (5) government is trusted and should take charge; (6) food manufacturers’ health messages are not trusted; (7) supermarkets should assist parents to select healthy foods. Food packaging information appears to be contributing to parents’ uncertainty regarding healthy food choices. Supermarkets could respond to parents’ trust in them by implementing structural policies, providing shopping environments that support and encourage healthy food choices.

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“…How industry messages are ‘framed’ in the media has also been the subject of analysis 22,30,31 . A much smaller body of qualitative evidence has explored people's interpretation of these discourses, such as positive and negative views of CSR tactics of ‘Big Food’ brands, based on interviews with parents and children 32 . However, little evidence exists about whether these discourses may influence opinions and attitudes about the role of government in addressing poor diet, and if these same discourses are used by members of the community to justify views about specific public health nutrition policies.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Are young adults’ discussions of public health nutrition policies associated with common food industry discourses? A qualitative pilot study

Howse

Hankey

Bauman

et al. 2021

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health

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Objective: Unhealthy diets are a key risk factor for chronic disease, with young adults (18–30 years old) in high‐income countries like Australia and the UK particularly at risk. Improved public health nutrition policies can help address unhealthy diets in the population, but many of the more regulatory policies are opposed by food industry groups. This research explores how young adults in Australia and the UK discuss a range of topical public health nutrition policies and analyses whether and how their views may be associated with food industry discourses. Methods: Eight focus groups were held in Sydney, Australia, and Glasgow, UK, with a total of thirty young adults participating. A deliberative‐style method was used in the focus groups to generate discussion about six public health nutrition policies, such as taxation of sugar‐sweetened beverages and restrictions on advertising of less‐healthy foods. Discourse analysis was used to examine participants’ discussions. Results: Twenty discourse codes were developed iteratively from the focus group data. These were thematically linked with nine food industry discourses found in the peer‐reviewed literature, including industry self‐regulation, personal responsibility, corporate social responsibility and challenging nutrition science. Conclusions: These results demonstrate there is an association between common food industry discourses and some young adults’ views about public health nutrition policies. Implications for public health: Identifying, engaging with and responding to common industry discourses is a priority in order to build greater public support and acceptability of policies that will improve diet and prevent chronic disease.

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Are Big Food’s corporate social responsibility strategies valuable to communities? A qualitative study with parents and children

Cited by 8 publications

References 24 publications

The physical activity and nutrition-related corporate social responsibility initiatives of food and beverage companies in Canada and implications for public health

The physical activity and nutrition-related corporate social responsibility initiatives of food and beverage companies in Canada and implications for public health

The Impact of Voluntary Policies on Parents’ Ability to Select Healthy Foods in Supermarkets: A Qualitative Study of Australian Parental Views

Are young adults’ discussions of public health nutrition policies associated with common food industry discourses? A qualitative pilot study

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