Examining Differences in Children's Reported Exposure to Food Advertising in Amateur Sports Settings in Canada's 2 Policy Environments: A Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND

Food marketing influences children's diet. Although food companies advertise to children via sports sponsorship, little research has examined this type of advertising.

OBJECTIVE

The aims of the study were to describe and compare children's self-reported exposure to food advertising in amateur sports settings in 2 Canadian policy environments, including Quebec (QC; where sponsorship-related advertising directed to children younger than 13 years is regulated) and Ontario (ON; where there are no regulations). It was hypothesized a priori that reported exposure to food advertising would be lower among children younger than 13 years in QC.

DESIGN

This was a cross-sectional online survey.

PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: One thousand and twenty children aged 10 to 17 years living in ON and QC were recruited via a commercial panel from February to April 2023. Those who reported playing on a sports team outside of school (ON: n = 239; QC: n = 200) were included in the analysis.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Children were asked to self-report exposure to food advertising when playing sports, including (1) signs, (2) branded sports equipment provided by their sports team, (3) branded awards, (4) free food, and (5) coupons or gift certificates.

ANALYSIS

Logistic regression analysis was used to examine differences in reported exposure between provinces after adjusting for socioeconomic status and child age, sex, and race. Interaction terms were included to examine differences between age groups within and between provinces.

RESULTS

The prevalence of reported exposure was highest for branded equipment (ON: 57%; QC: 44%) and signs (ON: 47%; QC: 43%), followed by branded prizes (ON: 30%; QC: 28%), free food (ON: 25%; QC: 27%), and coupons or gift certificates (ON: 26%; QC: 20%). The odds of reporting exposure to branded equipment were significantly lower among children in QC than those in ON (adjusted odds ratio 0.68; 95% CI, 0.46 to 0.99; P = .049). No other differences in reported exposure, including differences between children aged 10 to 12 years in QC and other children, were found to be statistically significant for the above outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

The study's findings suggest QC's advertising restrictions are not adequately protecting children from exposure to food advertising in amateur sports settings.