Lizzie Marvelly: Sponsorship ruckus does a fat lot of good

Junk food is part of the spectator ritual, but event sponsorship is only one small part of our problem with kids' health. Photo / AP

If Satan had a favourite food, it would be KFC. Or so you'd think after the fracas surrounding this week's announcement that KFC would be sponsoring the Rugby League World Cup. Calls for regulation around fast food advertising abounded, handing both KFC and the Rugby League World Cup more publicity than they could ever have expected from something as mundane as a partnership announcement.

The assertion by Consumer NZ Chief Executive Sue Chetwin that KFC's sponsorship of the Rugby League World Cup is an attempt to target children so that they will "build up a lifelong addiction" to junk food seemed particularly overstated. It was certainly alarming enough to garner attention, but singling out sporting events sponsored by fast food companies as having a causative relationship with fast food addiction in children triggered my scepticism reflex.

As a child, I ate a reasonable amount of junk food. Most weeks there would be one night when I was allowed to choose between McDonalds, KFC and Georgie Pie for dinner. I also ate cake, biscuits, lollies, chips and many other things that would make some of today's yummiest mummies gasp - alongside fruit, vegetables, meat, carbohydrates and dairy. Not a cacao or chia seed bliss ball in sight. Thank God.

Was I fat? Objectively, no (although I thought I was - thanks to the 90s obsession with heroin chic fashion and dieting fads). Did I develop a lifelong addiction to junk food? I couldn't actually tell you the last time I ate McDonalds, KFC or the like, so it seems not. I was a normal kid who was allowed the odd treat as a part of a generally nutritious diet. A kid with parents who could afford to ensure that the food I ate was mostly healthy, and who were quite capable of saying "no".

Though I don't particularly like that fast food giants sponsor major sporting events - ensuring their branding and mouthwatering advertising is splashed anywhere and everywhere that there's an opportunity for "monetisation" - and I agree that fast food advertising should be done in a more responsible fashion - I'm not especially het up about it. I find that I'm much angrier that milk has become more expensive in New Zealand than soft drinks, and that there are kids in our country whose families can't afford for them to play sport.

For a long time now, rugby league has been a game that gives communities facing significant challenges hope and pride. Tickets to NRL games are often conspicuously cheaper than tickets to Super Rugby matches, and many clubs have community outreach programmes that see players giving back to their fans. Comparing the ticket prices between the Rugby League World Cup and the Rugby World Cup makes for an eye-opening exercise.

All of which no doubt factored into Chetwin's summation that in New Zealand "Rugby league as a game is largely supported by Māori and Pacific Islanders and these children are the children suffering most already." I don't disagree with her, but I would argue that banning fast food advertising from league tournaments would do little in the big scheme of things to help them.

I have a slightly different take on the issue. Given that eating too much fast food can cause negative health outcomes, I would rather junk food giants sponsored sport than sedentary events targeting at-risk communities. At least then kids are encouraged to get active - like their favourite league stars - to offset any junk food they might eat.

I ate cake, biscuits, lollies, chips and many other things that would make some of today's yummiest mummies gasp - alongside fruit, vegetables, meat, carbohydrates and dairy. Not a cacao or chia seed bliss ball in sight. Thank God.

The link between sport and greasy food is hardly a tenuous one either. As any Kiwi kid who has queued up for a battered hot dog dripping with tomato sauce or a packet of hot chips bought from a caravan window at half time will tell you, junk food has long been part of the spectator ritual.

But just because a certain food is associated with a sporting event - either by being available for purchase at the game or by way of a sponsorship agreement - does not mean that kids will eat it. If you sold boiled lentils at half time and inked a sponsorship deal with a vegan cheese company, how many children do you think would develop lifelong addictions to legumes or "tofu gouda"?

The reason fast food brands are popular has little to do with the sports events they sponsor and rather a lot to do with the fact that a lot of junk food is, well, yum. Which is fine - when unhealthy food is an occasional treat. What has been lost in the debate about KFC and the Rugby League World Cup is that event sponsorship is only one very small part of our problem with kids' health. To my mind, it's a red herring in a situation that is multi-faceted and ever evolving.

When it comes to concerns about obesity and ill health in Kiwi children, there are other issues that deserve more attention. For example, a lack of education about both nutrition and financial literacy in struggling communities, which can result in poor decision-making; loan sharks and credit card companies who trap vulnerable families into constant financial stress; the price of basic products like milk, meat, fruit and vegetables; and inequality making outdoor activities like school camps inaccessible to some children from low-income families.

And then there's the nasty fat-shaming that often accompanies conversations about obesity in low socio-economic communities. The narrative can quickly devolve into blaming vulnerable people for a combination of their genetics, the stress in their lives, the level of education they received, the limited resources they have, and numerous other potential factors. The reality is that the causes of obesity are much more complex than the sponsorship of a sporting event.

Hopefully, however, the discussion around KFC's sponsorship will prompt league stars to engage their supporters in conversations about the "treat" nature of fast food. And to encourage their young fans to get active, no matter what they eat.