The AdHealth extension has been created as part of a research project at the University of Auckland
which aims to measure the nature and extent of food advertising targeted at adolescents through Facebook.
By installing this extension, you agree to allow us to collect anonymous data
about the advertising you receive through Facebook, and give your consent to participate
in the study.
If you are under the age of 16, you will also need to seek permission from your parents before participating.
Project Title: Exposure of adolescents to food advertising through Facebook in New Zealand
Before you decide, it is important for you to understand why this research is
being conducted and what it will involve. Please read the following
information carefully and discuss this with your
parents/caregivers if you are underage. Please contact us if there is anything that is not clear or if
you would like more information. Take your time to decide whether or not
you wish to take part.
Who are the researchers conducting this study?
- Professor Boyd Swinburn is a professor of population nutrition and
global health at the University of Auckland.
- Dr Stefanie Vandevijvere is a senior research fellow in food
policy.
For more information on Professor Swinburn visit:
https://unidirectory.auckland.ac.nz/profile/boyd-swinburn
What is the purpose of this study?
- Food and non-alcoholic beverage advertising is recognised as an
important factor influencing food choices related to obesity and diet-related
chronic diseases.
- The monitoring of adolescents' exposure to food and beverage
promotions, and the content of these promotions, is necessary to
generate evidence to understand the extent of the problem, and to
determine appropriate and effective policy responses.
- This is the first ever study to be conducted of its kind.
The main aim of this project is to assess the extent and the nature of food
advertising to adolescents aged 13-18 years through Facebook in New
Zealand.
Who can participate?
Anyone with a Facebook account and using Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome
as a web browser can participate in this study.
What do participants need to do?
- Participants who consent to the study can install the browser extension in their Google Chrome web browser.
- Participation in this study is entirely voluntary.
Participants and/or a parent/caregiver have the right to withdraw from
participation at any time.
- No personally identifiable information from participants' Facebook
accounts will be collected in this study.
- It will not cost participants anything to participate in this study.
How does the extension work?
The extension runs in the background of the web browser and records the advertisements seen
by participants in their Facebook newsfeed. It also records the demographic of participants. It uses this information to give the participant a health
rating, which is based on the advertisements they have seen.
What data does the extension collect?
- Advertisements seen by the participant.
- Date of birth and gender of the participant
- Any engagement the participant makes with advertisements they see (whether they clicked, liked, commented on, or shared the advertisement)
- No personally identifiable information from participants' Facebook accounts will be collected in this study.
- Only data from advertisements will be collected from participants' Facebook Newsfeed.
How do participants withdraw from the study?
Participants may withdraw from the study at any time.
To withdraw from the study:
- Navigate to chrome://extensions
on Google Chrome or about:addons on Firefox.
- Find the extension in the list and click remove/uninstall
What are the risks of participation?
- There are no known risks of taking part in this study.
- A perceived risk is that the researcher can see the personal
information of participants through Facebook, however it is assured
the researcher will not access the participants Facebook and only
collect what is relevant to the study, i.e. the advertising the participants
receive, as well as some non-personally identifiable demographic information
pertaining to the participants, i.e. age, gender, city of residence.
- In the rare case that the research gives rise to any incidental findings
e.g. a participant that at risk of harm, the researcher will contact a
parent/caregiver immediately to follow up with the participant.
What are the benefits of participation?
- Participant may potentially become more aware about food
advertising through Facebook.
- Participants will be contributing towards the first ever study
conducted in New Zealand to measure exposure of food advertising
through Facebook.
What will happen with the results?
- All the information collected about participants during the course of
the research will be kept strictly confidential.
- The results will be published in a peer review scientific journal and
discussed on an aggregated level.
Data coding and storage
The data will be stored on a university computer at the School of Population
Health. The aim is to track progress over time and to perform
comparisons between countries, hence the data cannot be entirely deleted.
Contact details
Principal investigator: Professor Boyd Swinburn
Email:
boyd.swinburn@auckland.ac.nz
Ph: (09) 923 9135
Co-investigator: Dr Stefanie Vandevijvere
Email:
s.vandevijvere@auckland.ac.nz
Ph: (09) 9238489
Head of Department: Professor Alistair Woodward
Email:
a.woodward@auckland.ac.nz
Ph: (09) 3737599
School of Population Health
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
The University of Auckland
Private bag 92019
Auckland New Zealand
For any queries regarding ethical concerns, you may contact the Chair, The
University of Auckland Human Participants Ethics Committee, The University
of Auckland, Research Office, Private bag 92019, Auckland 1142. Telephone
093737599 email:
humanethics@auckland.ac.nz.
APPROVED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND HUMAN PARTICIPANTS
ETHICS COMMITTEE ON 8/09/2014 FOR 3 YEARS
REFERENCE NUMBER 012452