Editorial - Time to get tough on unhealthy sponsorships

Health is everybody?s business, and the Bangkok Charter placed health promotion firmly in a global context, calling for an integrated policy approach where health is central to global development and a key requirement for good corporate practice. The Charter recognised the potential harms associated with marketing strategies1 and there is a growing recognition that advertising and marketing of unhealthy food and drinks, including alcohol, have a negative impact on children?s knowledge, attitudes, preferences and consumption. A recent New Zealand study also found links between alcohol industry sponsorship and higher levels of alcohol consumption among sport participants. In Australia, the National Preventative Health Taskforce placed advertising and marketing of unhealthy products firmly on the national health agenda and concluded that the weight of evidence is now sufficiently compelling to recommend action to control what remains an overwhelmingly self-regulated industry.