Large corporations have the resource to support kids’ sports in New Zealand, but it’s all in service of training unhealthy consumers, writes children’s health researcher Victoria Egli.

I was a high school student when the McFlurry first came out. I have a vivid memory of marking the date it would be released in my dairy, spending time with friends debating what flavour we’d try first, then using public transport to travel as a group after school, in our uniforms, to our nearest McDonald’s. The hype and anticipation over the McFlurry were driven mostly by free-to-air TV ads and teen-magazine marketing. This was a time well before social media. In the end, after all that debate, I chose the same flavour as my crush. 

Across Aotearoa, multinational food and beverage companies have for decades embedded themselves in children’s everyday lives. As if relentless digital marketing, ads plastered on billboards and buses, and strategic locations of fast-food outlets near schools wasn’t enough, we also see classroom infiltration by stealth under the guise of “education” and “sport.” 

Children’s sport has long been saturated with fast food and sugary drink marketing. My friends grew up playing in the Milo cricket tournament, and I too wore sports gear covered in logos. McDonald’s and Nestle’s Milo sponsorship of girls’ football is another example: framed as empowerment, but in reality, exploiting historically low female sports participation rates to polish a brand image. This long history of brand marketing in children’s everyday lives has normalised the practice, making it easy for us to forget it’s harmful. These companies know by creating positive associations with their brand early, children grow into loyal consumers for life. 

Nestlé has free lesson plans for teachers, positioning itself as a voice of moderation and health promotion, despite its core business driving dental cavities and diet-related disease. Recent coverage of the new 24/7 McDonald’s drive-through within walking distance of six Auckland schools showed McDonald’s proudly inviting school groups into its stores during class time to teach “economics”. This is not community service; it is corporate strategy, and it preys on our children’s health.

When I was at school the tuck shop was a haven of hot chips, pies and sweets. Over the years, many schools have worked hard to improve the food offered to students, removing the worst options and introducing nutrition policies. At the same time, corporate involvement from brands like McDonald’s and Nestlé continues in classrooms. If schools can overhaul their tuck shops in the name of health, they can do the same for learning environments. For some schools these partnerships can feel like a chance to access free sports gear or lesson plans, but nothing from big food companies is ever free. What looks like generosity is, in truth, marketing to the most vulnerable.

The message these tactics send is dangerous: that a child should be a consumer of global brands irrespective of health impacts. This undermines not only children’s health and wellbeing, but it also enables a society where the environments our children live, learn and play in are shaped by corporations and not communities. This issue sits within a much wider global concern. Recently, the United Nations published a report titled “Corporate Power and Human Rights in Food Systems”. The report describes how a handful of global corporations now dominate the food chain: from seeds and pesticides to farm machinery, genetics trade, logistics, retailing and our digital data. According to the report, the consequences are stark: families are paying inflated food prices while corporations reap record high profits. 

Enough is enough. Here is what we can do to make a difference:

• Politicians must act to stop new fast food outlets being built near schools and closing loopholes that allow junk food brands to infiltrate education and sport. 
• Schools need to turn down Big Food involvement in classrooms, no matter how attractively packaged as “free resources” or “educational support”. 
• Everyone needs to better support teachers. In the coming weeks, teachers will strike for better pay and greater resources. We should stand with them. When educators are underpaid and overworked, the temptation to accept “easy wins” from companies like McDonald’s and Nestlé only grows stronger. Supporting teachers means giving them the pay, conditions and resources to teach without compromise.
• Parents have a crucial role: pressing school boards to adopt policies prohibiting corporate influence in classrooms. If we want schools and sports fields shaped by communities rather than corporations, then parents, aunties, uncles, teachers, policymakers and voters alike must draw the line now and stop letting these companies’ supersize their hold on our kids’ health.

Victoria Egli is a children’s health researcher at Waikato University and a spokesperson for Health Coalition Aotearoa.