Auckland kids see a “substantial” amount of junk food and drink ads near schools

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-04-12 08:43

New Zealand

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To get a sense of how much advertising kids are exposed to near their schools, researchers counted up food and drink ads outside Auckland dairies that are located close to a primary school. Using Google Street View, they found a total of almost 3700 ads from 296 stores that were within 500m of a school. Almost four out of every five ads were classified as marketing to children, and kids in neighbourhoods of deprivation were exposed to more ads than those in wealthier areas. Roughly half of the ads were for unhealthy food and drink. The researchers say policies are needed that ensure that spaces where kids live, play, and go to school aren’t “polluted” by ads for unhealthy food and drink.