@article{ref1,
title="Patterns of sports sponsorship by gambling, alcohol and food companies: an Internet survey",
journal="BMC public health",
year="2006",
author="Maher, Anthony and Wilson, Nick and Signal, Louise and Thomson, George",
volume="6",
number="",
pages="95-95",
abstract="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 &quot;unhealthy&quot; and &quot;healthy&quot; 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. <br><br>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). <br><br>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 &quot;unhealthy&quot; (eg, food high in fat and sugar, gambling and alcohol) were over twice as common as sponsorship associated with sponsors' products classified as &quot;healthy&quot; (32.7% (95% CI = 29.1, 36.5) versus 15.5% (95% CI = 12.8, 18.6) respectively). &quot;Gambling&quot; was the most common specific type of sponsorship (18.8%) followed by alcohol (11.3%). There were significantly more &quot;alcohol&quot; 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 &quot;unhealthy food&quot; sponsorship for touch rugby and for &quot;junior&quot; 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%. <br><br>CONCLUSION: This study found that the sponsorship of popular sports for young people is dominated by &quot;unhealthy&quot; sponsorship (ie, predominantly gambling, alcohol and unhealthy food) relative to &quot;healthy&quot; sponsorship. Governments may need to consider regulations that limit unhealthy sponsorship and/or adopt alternative funding mechanisms for supporting popular sports.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1471-2458",
doi="10.1186/1471-2458-6-95",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-6-95"
}