Why watching the Commonwealth Games could be bad for your health
Fizzy drinks and alcohol are big sponsors of major sporting events despite the health problems they can cause
Many of us in Scotland love watching our sport and when the big events come around, they are even more special. Football, rugby, athletics and many other sports bring the nation together in the face of increasing division in our society.
This year we are celebrating homegrown successes as the men’s football team have qualified for the Fifa World Cup for the first time since 1998, Scotland beat England to lift the Calcutta Cup at Murrayfield in February, and Josh Kerr won gold in the men’s 3,000 metres at the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships.
Sport, at its best, is a feast of health and fitness featuring our bravest and most talented athletes. We celebrate their performances and victories together with our friends and family, with excitement, passion and joy.
And yet, sport’s greatest spectacles are used systematically and cynically to encourage us to consume everything which is bad for our health and everything which the sports stars themselves are told to abstain from.
Junk food and gambling
When we turn on our televisions, alcohol brands, sugary drinks, junk food, and gambling logos fill our screens and every possible surface of sports venues and athletes’ uniforms. We were quick to support bans on smoking and tobacco in sport – yet rarely apply the same scrutiny to other products harmful to our health. We don’t seem to question Guinness sponsoring the Six Nations or Coca-Cola at the World Cup (the drinks company has been a sponsor since 1974).
These companies sponsor sport because they know it’s a great way to reach a massive audience – particularly young people. Big events provide the perfect opportunity for their brand to stand out. And, whilst the same companies keep their marketing reports close to their chests and publicly proclaim that this isn’t about increasing sales, occasionally evidence of their practices does fall into the public domain.
Guinness has boasted of increased consumption of its products as a direct result of its historical involvement with the Rugby World Cup, whilst Budweiser’s promotional stunts with the Fifa World Cup have won the alcohol behemoth any number of marketing awards. Closer to home, Irn-Bru’s sponsorship of the 2014 Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow was reported to have resulted in a sales increase of nearly 25 per cent during the course of the games.
With the same Commonwealth Games returning to Glasgow this summer, albeit on a much smaller scale, I would love to say this will be a festival of health and fitness. Sadly, the announcement of “beer partner”, Jubel, and “soft drinks partner”, Coca-Cola, signifies a completely different message.
Obesity and bad teeth
It’s an uncomfortable truth that Scotland has an alcohol problem, and our figures on obesity and oral health put us way down any European health league. With this in mind, it is surely inappropriate for any sports to allow the excitement and passion which accompanies them to be used by alcohol and soft drinks companies to promote sales. But there are many reasons why these companies pay good bucks to be sponsors.
It is certainly jaw-dropping to see Coca-Cola’s sponsorship being launched with a claim that they are partnering with an environmental charity to clean up the riverbanks closest to the Commonwealth Games sports venues. And where does that litter come from?
You won’t be surprised to hear that Keep Scotland Beautiful reports that food and drink packaging accounts for almost a half of it after discounting smoking-related litter. Greenpeace states that Coca-Cola is the world’s largest plastic polluter, producing more than 130 billion single-use plastic bottles annually.
Like Coca-Cola, Jubel’s sponsorship emphasises its environmental claims. The Institute of Alcohol Studies published an excellent report in 2022 on alcohol’s impact on a sustainable future. And, as with soft drinks, alcohol production uses a significant amount of water. Producing one litre of beer can require nearly 300 litres of water – the latter is as much as two people’s total daily water use in the UK. Alcohol packaging, like other drinks, is another major creator of waste.
Companies such as Coca-Cola and Jubel dress up their environmental claims to divert attention away from the damage to human health their products can cause. Sustain, the alliance for better food and farming, notes that soft drinks contain virtually no essential nutrients and their main ingredients are carbonated water and sugar or syrup. Soft drinks companies make huge profits from their products whose consumption is associated with high obesity rates, type 2 diabetes and poor oral health. Sugar-free versions still cause damage to teeth due to acetic acid.
Alcohol a major risk factor
Alcohol Focus Scotland and Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) have been raising their concerns about alcohol companies’ associations with sport for years. A World Health Organisation factsheet states that alcohol use is one of the major risk factors for non-communicable diseases – including cardiovascular disease and some cancers – and premature mortality.
Further, alcohol harm is greater for drinkers and families with lower incomes than for those with higher incomes. It pushes people into poverty or keeps them there, exacerbating socioeconomic inequality.
Sponsorship is a convenient way for unhealthy brands to get themselves noticed, but at the expense of both environmental and human health. So do please support and enjoy the sport in Glasgow and the athletes taking part – whilst also being aware that simply watching the Commonwealth Games may damage your health.
Dr Robin Ireland is an honorary research fellow in the School of Health and Wellbeing at the University of Glasgow
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