Abstract
Objectives
Sponsorship by manufacturers of unhealthy food can undermine the health promoting
goals of sport. This study aimed to describe Australian children's exposure to organised
sport, and compare time spent in specific sports with patterns of sponsorship of children's
sport identified in previous studies.
Design
Cross-sectional survey on children's sport participation collected by proxy report
using a random-digit-dialling survey of 3416 parents.
Methods
Data from the 2009/10 Australian Sports Commission's Exercise, Recreation and Sport
Survey were used to calculate weekly total person-time exposure to sports for Australian
children, as a product of median weekly exposure (minutes) and the number of children
participating. Exposures for children in NSW were calculated based on population distribution.
Based on a previous survey of sport clubs in NSW, cumulative weekly exposure to food/beverage
sponsorship at sports clubs was estimated for children living in NSW.
Results
77.3% of Australian children aged 5–14 participated in organised sport. In NSW, weekly
total person-time exposure for children was highest for outdoor soccer (91,200 children × median frequency of 2 sessions per week of 1 h duration = 182,400 h/week). Considering rates of sponsorship at different sports, children would be exposed
to food/beverage sponsorship to the greatest extent for rugby league and outdoor cricket.
Conclusions
Children's high frequency of participation in organised sport and time spent engaging
in these activities highlights the potentially huge reach of food/beverage sponsorship
promotions. Policy interventions to limit children's exposure to this sponsorship
should target those sports that have both the highest levels of children's participation
and food/beverage sponsorship arrangements.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 09, 2013
Accepted:
July 10,
2013
Received in revised form:
June 14,
2013
Received:
April 4,
2013
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
