The Advertising Standards Authority's complaints board confirmed the trophy was an ad, and that it breached the Children and Young People's Advertising Code because it was not placed with a high standard of social responsibility.
Ads for "occasional foods" must not target children or be placed in media where kids are likely to make up a significant proportion of the audience.
The ad has been removed, the ASA said.
But its complaints board did not uphold other aspects of the complaint. It said the award did not promote an unhealthy lifestyle, given it was awarded in the context of playing sport and kids would only receive one or two per season.
It also found the ad did not breach the Advertising Standards Code, which requires a due sense of social responsibility. (The Children and Young People's Advertising Code has a higher standard for social responsibility than the Advertising Standards Code.)
Healthy Auckland Together (HAT) raised concerns with the ASA that the ad promoted the consumption of "occasional food" as a reward for physical activity and directly targeted children, including by the use of a cartoon character.
Occasional foods are defined as those which are high in fat, salt or sugar and are classified under the Food and Beverage classification system as being intended for occasional consumption.
BurgerFuel acknowledged the meal should be an occasional food, and said the intended targets were children aged 8-15 who played sports.
HAT said it was pleased its complaint had been partly upheld but said the ruling didn't go far enough.
Spokeswoman Dr Sally Mackay, a senior lecturer and public health nutritionist from the University of Auckland said such awards had no place where kids played sport.
"It's a complete contradiction to reward children who are learning healthy behaviours and being physically active, with unhealthy food marketing and unhealthy meals," Mackay said.
New Zealand had the second-highest child obesity rates in the OECD and spends around $2 billion per year on treating diseases related to excess weight.
Research had found unhealthy food marketing in sport increased people's awareness and preference for the sponsor's products.
One Australian study had found 85 per cent of children had at some point received a voucher or certificate from a food or drink company as a reward for sports performance.
"The ASA didn't consider that the ad promoted an unhealthy lifestyle, or undermined health and wellbeing," Mackay said. "It's the kind of inconsistency we want to see urgently addressed."
The group is calling for a law change to restrict junk food marketing to children - currently the ASA is the only way to call food manufacturers to account. HAT has logged 15 complaints with the ASA but only two have been upheld.
