Trial reportBMC public health2018
The impact of unhealthy food sponsorship vs. pro-health sponsorship models on young adults' food preferences: a randomised controlled trial.
Trial report in BMC public health, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Impact of food, beverage, and alcohol brand marketing on consumptive behaviors and health in children and adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2025Pooled it
- Food marketing, eating and health outcomes in children and adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The British journal of nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Interventions implemented through sporting organisations for promoting healthy behaviour or improving health outcomes.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Can counter-advertising dilute marketing effects of alcohol sponsorship of elite sport: A field experiment.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2023Trial
- Can counter-advertising exposing alcohol sponsorship and harms influence sport spectators' support for alcohol policies? An experimental study.BMC public health · 2023Trial
- Parents' reactions to unhealthy foodPublic health nutrition · 2020Trial
- Length and Framing of Anti-Junk Food Ads Impact Inclinations to Consume Junk Food Among Normal Weight, Overweight, and Adults With Obesity.Health promotion journal of Australia : official journal of Australian Association of Health Promotion Professionals · 2026Article
- Empowering Healthy Lifestyle Behavior Through Personalized Intervention Portfolios Using a Healthy Lifestyle Recommender System to Prevent and Control Obesity in Young Adults: Pilot Study Protocol from the HealthyW8 Project.Journal of personalized medicine · 2025Article
- Examining the Effect of Virtual Reality-Based Fast-Food Marketing on Eating-Related Outcomes in Young Adults: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Salt and Nutritional Content of Foods Advertised During Televised Professional Football Games.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Beyond the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup Australia - New Zealand: Public health advocacy and the absence of health-conscious sport sponsorship.Public health in practice (Oxford, England) · 2024Article
- Food and beverage selection in children's sports arenas in Norway: a cross-sectional study.Public health nutrition · 2024Article
- Adolescents' experiences with the food selection at the sports arena in the area of Oslo, Norway: a focus group study.Public health nutrition · 2024Article
- Testing a nutrient composition threshold model to classify brands for marketing restrictions.PloS one · 2024Article
- Strengthening Global Legislative Actions to Protect Children from the Harmful Impacts of Unhealthy Food and Non-alcoholic Beverage Marketing.Current obesity reports · 2023Review
- Decision makers perceptions and experiences of developing population-level interventions targeting risk factors for hypertension and diabetes in South Africa: a qualitative study.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- Gambling, fast food and alcohol sponsorship in elite sport - perspectives from Australian sporting fans.BMC public health · 2022Article
- Sponsorship by food and beverage companies in soccer: an analysis of the 2019 Copa América.Revista de saude publica · 2022Article
- An Assessment of Government Capacity Building to Restrict the Marketing of Unhealthy Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverage Products to Children in the Region of the Americas.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- A state-wide audit of unhealthy sponsorship within junior sporting clubs in Victoria, Australia.Public health nutrition · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundUnhealthy foods are promoted heavily, through food company sponsorship of elite sport, resulting in extensive exposure among young adults who are avid sport spectators. This study explores the effects of sponsorship of an elite sporting event by: (A) non-food brands (control), (B) unhealthy food brands, (C) healthier food brands, or (D) an obesity prevention public health campaign on young adults' brand awareness, attitudes, image perceptions, event-sponsor fit perceptions, and preference for food sponsors' products.
methodsA between-subjects web-based experiment was conducted, consisting of four sponsorship conditions (A through D) featuring three product categories within each condition. Australian adults (N = 1132) aged 18-24 years were recruited via a national online panel. Participants viewed promotional videos and news stories about an upcoming international, multi-sport event (with sponsor content edited to reflect each condition), completed a distractor task, and then answered questions assessing the response variables. Regression analyses were conducted to test for differences by sponsorship condition on the respective outcome measures.
resultsCompared to the control condition, unhealthy food sponsorship promoted higher awareness of, and more favourable attitudes towards, unhealthy food sponsor brands. Unhealthy food sponsorship also led to greater perceived event-sponsor fit and transfer of perceptions of the sporting event to the unhealthy food sponsor brands, relative to the control group. Exposure to sponsorship for healthier foods produced similar sponsorship effects for healthier food sponsor brands, as well as prompting a significant increase in the proportion of young adults showing a preference for these products. Obesity prevention campaign sponsorship promoted higher campaign awareness and perceived event-sponsor fit, but did not impact food attitudes or preference for unhealthy versus healthier foods.
conclusionFindings suggest that restricting elite sport sponsorship to healthier food brands that meet set nutritional criteria could help promote healthier eating among young adults. Sporting organisations should be encouraged to seek sponsorship from companies who produce healthier food brands and government-funded social marketing campaigns. CLINICAL
trial registrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) registration number ACTRN12618000368235 . Retrospectively registered 12 March 2018.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.