New Research Highlights The Harm That Tamariki Are Exposed To Through The Marketing Of Gambling, Alcohol And Junk Food

New research from the University of Otago, released today, has shown the level of harm our tamariki are exposed to through outdoor marketing of gambling, alcohol and junk food.

The study, which followed 122 12-year-olds wearing body cameras for four days in Te Whanganui-A-Tara, used mapping analysis to link image and GPS data to create density maps showing the distribution of harmful marketing exposure.

Māori and Pacific children made up 57% of the participants, and around half of all participants were from high deprivation households (46%).

The most common harmful marketing exposure facing these tamariki was unhealthy food exposure, followed by gambling, then alcohol marketing.

Selah Hart, CEO of Hāpai Te Hauora, says that these findings are consistent with what is seen by Hāpai Te Hauora kaimahi anecdotally in our communities in Tāmaki Makaurau.

"This study adds to the body of work that shows Māori and Pacific tamariki are bearing the brunt of harms generated by profit-maximising corporate activity in our communities" says Selah.

In a media release from the University of Otago, senior author Professor Louise Signal said "Marketing promotes harmful products as part of everyday life, drives consumption and maximises profits at the expense of the health of our children."

Selah agrees, "We have seen the threat that marketing strategies such as these pose. Smoking and vaping companies have had no problem targeting our whānau in the past with little consideration of their health and well-being. Thanks to the strong reaction and relentless mahi from Aotearoa’s public health sector, smoking and vaping marketing has been banned through national legislation.

We should absolutely be doing the same for alcohol, gambling and junk food."

Hāpai Te Hauora hopes that this study will spur policymakers in local and central government to take action.

"Banning harmful marketing of gambling, alcohol and junk food to our tamariki is an issue of equity.

We already know Māori and Pacific whānau are disproportionately represented in all metrics of social determinants of health, and this study provides evidence and a pathway forward to address that.

We should be taking it."

This work was funded by the Te Kāhui Matepukupuku o Aotearoa: Cancer Society of New Zealand. The Kids’Cam project was funded by a Health Research Council of New Zealand Programme Grant (13/724).

Publication details: Liu, W., Gage, R., Park, H., Pearson, A., Chambers, T., & Smith, M. et al. (2022). The distribution of harmful product marketing in public outdoor spaces and the effectiveness of marketing bans. Health & Place, 76. doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2022.102861

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