Kiwi kids see 27 junk food ads each day

Some Kiwi kids are being bombarded with an average of 27 junk food advertisements a day in their schools, homes and on the streets, new research has found.

In a world-first study by Otago and Auckland universities, 168 children from across the Wellington region, aged 11 to 13, wore cameras around their necks for four days, capturing what they saw every seven seconds.

In one case, a poster for Coca-cola hung on a classroom wall. In others, marketing for sugary or energy drinks on the sides of dairies or on the ends of buses plagued their journey home.

University of Otago associate professor of public health Louise Signal, who led the research team, said the saturation of this sort of advertising was normalising the consumption of junk food.

‘‘The consequence of that is obesity,’’ she said. ‘‘[Kids] are twice as likely to see junk food marketing as healthy marketing; it goes against that effort to help children maintain their weight.’’

The research, titled Kids’ Cam, sought to understand what life was like through a child’s eyes. The children came from 16 randomly selected schools across various deciles in Wellington, Porirua and the Hutt Valley.

The results showed they were exposed to an average of seven unhealthy food adverts at school and eight in public places each day.

Advertising seen on television and in dairies and supermarkets was excluded from the study because there was simply too much of it to count, Signal said.

But she added: ‘‘If they watch TV for an hour before dinner they see 10 junk food ads.’’

University of Auckland Professor Cliona Ni Mhurchu, the research team’s programme director, said the findings were a real concern given the high rates of obesity among New Zealand children, and the influence of marketing on children’s food choices.

Ministry of Health statistics show 11 per cent of New Zealand children aged between 2 and 14 are obese, and a further 22 per cent are overweight.

Sugary drinks, fast food, confectionary and snack food advertisements were the most common found in the study. Product packaging was the dominant platform, followed by signs.

In an effort to reduce exposure, the researchers are calling on the incoming Government to impose a sugary drinks tax, regulate junk food marketing and impose rules that would see only healthy foods sold in schools.

They would also like to see a ban on junk food advertising in sports, such as Gatorade’s partnership with the All Blacks.

Signal applauded the children who took part in the study, saying they told researchers they did not like all the advertising.

‘‘Two-thirds of children we asked felt there should be changes to the way [advertising] is currently regulated. Some of them said, ‘I would take down all those billboards we were made to look at’. Others wanted companies to ‘tell the truth’.’’

The industry selfregulating Children’s Code for Advertising Food states: ‘‘food advertisements should not undermine the food and nutrition policies of Government, the Ministry of Health Food and Nutrition Guidelines nor the health and well-being of children’’.

Signal said this latest research showed this is clearly not working.

‘‘It is time for Government regulation of food marketing,’’ she said. ‘‘Whoever is in Government this week needs to take urgent action.’’

The project received $800,000 in funding from the Health Research Council. The research was published yesterday in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition & Physical Activity.

11 per cent of children aged between 2 and 14 are obese.