22-Sep-2014
Contact: Emma Dickinson
edickinson@bmj.com
44-020-738-36529
BMJ-British Medical Journal
@bmj_latest
Contact: Emma Dickinson
edickinson@bmj.com
44-020-738-36529
BMJ-British Medical Journal
@bmj_latest
Potentially misleading public about health benefits of these products which remain unproven
Such sponsorship could mislead the public into
thinking these products work well and/or are good for health—for which there is
no strong scientific evidence—suggest Simon Outram and Bob Stewart of the
Institute of Sport, Exercise, and Active Living, in Melbourne, Australia.
Two years ago, research published in BMJ Open
reached similar conclusions.*
Outram and Stewart accept that nutritional
supplements and rehydration drinks don't compare with the unhealthiness of fast
food, tobacco, or alcohol, all of which have been associated with major
sporting events.
But the very fact that these products are marketed as
beneficial or essential for sporting prowess and/or general health, when the
evidence has so far failed to substantiate these claims or justify their cost,
is likely to make it harder for the public to judge the value of these products
objectively, they suggest.
"Successful sponsorship campaigns remove or
minimise any scepticism about the product (a common reaction to
advertising)," they write. "A form of seamless or hidden product
association is created whereby such products come to be seen as integral to
sport—the sports supplement or sports drink," they say, adding that
celebrity endorsement helps to promote that idea.
"It is for good reason that nutritional
supplement and sports drinks companies invest heavily in sports
sponsorship," they write. "Such sponsorship—together with associated
product endorsements and advertising—conveys the message that their products
are integral to sporting engagement and achievement."
But they warn: "Sport may have found itself
lending unwarranted credibility to products which would otherwise not
necessarily be seen as beneficial for participation in sports and exercise or
as inherently healthy products."
The issue has already prompted some degree of
disquiet among sporting authorities about the perception that they might be
seen to be endorsing nutritional supplements and sports drinks, suggest the
authors.
The Australian Institute of Sports has voiced
concerns about this, while the American Dietetic Association, Dieticians of
Canada, and the American College of Sports Medicine have issued a joint
statement, which among other things, questions the manufacturers' claims for
the effectiveness of these products.
And the World Anti-Doping Agency has highlighted
the potential inclusion of undeclared and banned substances in these products
as a result of global differences in labelling and manufacture.
"If sport authorities, teams, and sports
personalities distanced themselves from supplement and drinks company
sponsorship, ways would have to be found to cover the financial gap created,"
admit the authors.
But they add: "Lessons can be learnt from the
history of tobacco sponsorship and its gradual restriction, which did not lead
to the wholesale collapse of sport."
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