Pauzé Elise, Mah Catherine L, Taljaard Monica, Potvin Kent Monique
Faculty of Health Sciences, Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Faculty of Health, Healthy Populations Institute, School of Health Administration, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
J Acad Nutr Diet. 2025 Jun 24. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2025.06.029.
Food marketing influences children's diet. Although food companies advertise to children via sports sponsorship, little research has examined this type of advertising.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The study's findings suggest QC's advertising restrictions are not adequately protecting children from exposure to food advertising in amateur sports settings.
食品营销会影响儿童的饮食。尽管食品公司通过体育赞助向儿童做广告，但很少有研究审视这类广告。
本研究旨在描述和比较在加拿大的两种政策环境下，即魁北克省（QC；对面向13岁以下儿童的与赞助相关的广告进行监管）和安大略省（ON；无相关规定），儿童自我报告在业余体育赛事中接触食品广告的情况。预先假设在魁北克省，13岁以下儿童报告的接触食品广告的情况会更低。
这是一项横断面在线调查。
参与者/地点：2023年2月至4月，通过商业面板招募了1020名年龄在10至17岁、居住在安大略省和魁北克省的儿童。那些报告在校外运动队打球的儿童（安大略省：n = 239；魁北克省：n = 200）被纳入分析。
要求儿童自我报告在进行体育活动时接触食品广告的情况，包括（1）标识、（2）运动队提供的品牌运动装备、（3）品牌奖品、（4）免费食品，以及（5）优惠券或礼品券。
在调整社会经济地位以及儿童年龄、性别和种族后，使用逻辑回归分析来检验各省报告的接触情况的差异。纳入交互项以检验省内和省际年龄组之间的差异。
报告接触情况的发生率最高的是品牌装备（安大略省：57%；魁北克省：44%）和标识（安大略省：47%；魁北克省：43%），其次是品牌奖品（安大略省：30%；魁北克省：28%）、免费食品（安大略省：25%；魁北克省：27%），以及优惠券或礼品券（安大略省：26%；魁北克省：20%）。魁北克省儿童报告接触品牌装备的几率显著低于安大略省儿童（调整后的优势比为0.68；95%置信区间，0.46至0.99；P = 0.049）。对于上述结果，未发现报告接触情况的其他差异具有统计学意义，包括魁北克省10至12岁儿童与其他儿童之间的差异。
该研究结果表明，魁北克省的广告限制未能充分保护儿童在业余体育赛事中免受食品广告的影响。
