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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