Foods that are junk, drinks with sugar and large portions advertisements
There aren’t any government-issued policies that are in place Aotearoa, New Zealand (NZ) enough to shield children from the harmful effects of advertising on food and beverages. The repeated exposure to ads could have a long-lasting impact on the children’s diet which can increase the risk of developing non-communicable illnesses as they grow older. A crucial food-related environment to children’s health is in the space close to their school. This research aims to present the outdoor advertising for food and beverages at convenience stores located within 500 meters from all elementary schools ( n = 371) within the Auckland region.
Advertisements were photographed using Google Street View. An estimated 3693 ads were taken from 296 retailers. A majority ( n = 2628, 78.2%) of advertisements were classified as being targeted to children. Convenience stores that were located around schools in the low decile ( n = 1170, 51.8%) had more advertisements than those in the vicinity of moderate ( n = 561, 24.8%) or high ( n = 529, 23.4%) decile schools. About 50% ( n = 1863, 50.5%) of advertisements featured unhealthy foods or drinks, while less than 10% ( n = 350, 9.4%) were for products that are healthy. These results highlight the need for policies that limit children’s exposure to harmful advertising in their food and beverage environment.
Introduction
Children’s eating habits influence their eating surroundings (Scaglioni and others. Citation2018). The exposure to harmful advertisements for food and drinks can affect the diet of children and their health outcomes (Cairns and others. Citation2013; Egli et al. Citation2020; Sadeghirad et al. Citation2016). The unhealthy foods and drinks are usually characterized by having high levels of sodium, fat and/or sugar levels (Ministry of Health Citation2020; World Health Organization Citation2019). Exposure to unhealthy advertisements for food and drinks to children can have an adverse impact on their diet choices, consumption, purchasing behavior as well as health related to diet (Cairns et al. Citation2013; Sadeghirad et al. Citation2016). Children need nutritious food sources to support the best development and growth.
In 2015 The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe developed an nutrient profile model proposing limits on the promotion of food products to children. WHO recommends that there is no marketing to children within those categories as follows: confectionery and chocolate cakes, sweet biscuits and cakes and juices; energy drinks, edible ices and even alcoholic drinks (World Health Organization Citation 2015). But there is a gap in Aotearoa, New Zealand (hereafter, NZ) industry-led policies don’t do enough to safeguard children from being repeatedly exposed to advertisements for unhealthy food and drinks in the communities where they reside and play, as well as attend school.
Environments for children’s food in NZ
In NZ Children in NZ are exposed to nearly twice the amount of ads for food and drinks that are harmful as healthy alternatives (Signal and others. Citation2017). Studies have shown that kids are much more likely be influenced by advertising and the tools for persuasive use by beverage and food companies in comparison to adults (Kunkel and co. Citation2004; Lapierre et al. Citation2017). The children of NZ frequent the parks and stores (Signal and. Citation2017). that are typically located close with school buildings (Egli et al. Citation2019; Witten et al. Citation 2003) and are also home to a large number of unhealthy restaurants and advertisements in the vicinity (Egli and others. Citation2019).
Dairies, which is a kind or convenience stores, are a symbol for the suburban and urban NZ landscape. The small stores were established around 1900 and were “dairy produce sellers” offering dairy products like cream, milk cheese, butter, cheese and eggs. In 1945, the 40-hour work week was instituted, which made it impossible for grocers to operate outside of the hours.
