Commercial food advertising on the campus of Ghana’s largest University

Abstract

<jats:p>Background &#x0D; Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) are a leading cause of death globally. NCD mortality attributable to unhealthy food environments (FEs) is significant. Heavy marketing of unhealthy foods is an important contributor to unhealthy FEs.&#x0D; Aims &#x0D; We examined the extent of commercial food advertising, messaging, and signage on the campus of Ghana’s oldest and largest university.&#x0D; Methods&#x0D; We cross-sectionally collected data on all sighted advertisements. Advertisements/signage were categorised as food or non-food adverts, and as healthy or unhealthy (if they were food).&#x0D; Results&#x0D; Of 503 advertisements recorded, 238 (47.3%) were food ads. Advertised food products were categorised as healthy (38.7%), unhealthy (57.6%), or other/miscellaneous (3.8%). The most advertised food product was sugar-sweetened drinks (37.0%). Different promotional techniques deployed included the use of claim pronouncement, promotional characters, emotional appeal, premium offer, and price promotion.&#x0D; Conclusions&#x0D; The preponderance of unhealthy food advertising on the campus of Ghana’s largest university has public health implications. Advertising may influence purchasing behaviour and consumption of unhealthy foods. Publicity and advocacy that motivate development of local policies to regulate various food promotion activities within this, and other Ghanaian food environments are urgently needed.</jats:p>

Providing Measurement, Evaluation, Accountability, and Leadership Support (MEALS) for Non-communicable Diseases Prevention in Ghana: Project Implementation Protocol

“…According to the records of the Education Management Information System (EMIS) of the Ghana Education Service, the Greater Accra region had a total of 862 public primary schools and 812 public junior high schools in 2018 (65). Sampling 200 schools will give us 80% statistical power to compare a hypothesized outdoor unhealthy food marketing rate of 47% with the recently observed rate of 57% (21). In calculating the sample size for this aspect of the study, we hypothesized that the rate of outdoor marketing of unhealthy food will be 47% in comparison with a previously observed rate of 57% (21).…”

“…Sampling 200 schools will give us 80% statistical power to compare a hypothesized outdoor unhealthy food marketing rate of 47% with the recently observed rate of 57% (21). In calculating the sample size for this aspect of the study, we hypothesized that the rate of outdoor marketing of unhealthy food will be 47% in comparison with a previously observed rate of 57% (21). Whereas, the study by Amevinya et al (21) was conducted in a highly urbanized university setting, this study would involve six districts (which include urban, peri-urban, and rural areas).…”

“…The recent outdoor food advertising assessment we conducted in urban Ghana identified SSBs as the most widespread food/beverage sold or advertised (20)(21)(22). However, findings from the Healthy Food Environment Policy Index (Food-EPI) exercise of Ghana that assessed the extent of implementation of food environment policies showed that there is limited government action to regulate the marketing and sale of SSBs and other unhealthy foods (23).…”

Basic school pupils’ food purchases during mid-morning break in urban Ghanaian schools

“…This situation could promote the replacement of water with sugar-sweetened drinks which were sold for a similar price. The danger here is that children generally may consume less than their fluid requirements and be at risk of voluntary dehydration [25]. Proper hydration of children is known to have positive impacts on mood and cognition [38], and schools must provide pupils with free clean drinking water.…”

“…An expert assessment of government action on implementation of healthy food environment policies in Ghana concluded that implementation was insufficient [23]. There is also reported concentration of unhealthy foods and beverages in formal establishments in urban Ghana [24] with high evidence of the dominance of unhealthy foods in commercial advertisements in higher education [25]. Literature on how pupils interact with the prevailing food retail environment at schools in Ghana is limited [3,4].…”