Policy addressing marketing in schools

Most people oppose junk food marketing in schools.¹ Seventy-seven percent of parents surveyed nationwide said that they would prefer marketing be directed toward them, not their children.² And 69% of school officials said they supported increased regulation of junk foods in schools.³ Yet such marketing remains rampant, appearing in many places throughout schools including posters, vending machines, in-school TV ads, school newspapers, textbook covers, sports equipment, scoreboards, buses, scholarships, incentive programs and more.⁴

So what can be done about it? Below are some policy goals that parents, advocates, and policymakers can push for to help rid schools of junk food marketing.

• Institute a policy prohibiting the sale of low-nutrition foods and beverages on school grounds.*
• Restrict commercial marketing of low-nutrition foods and beverages, as well as brands associated with unhealthy products, on school property.*
• Negotiate contract terms with vendors to limit the sale and marketing of low-nutrition foods and beverages in schools.
• Prohibit fundraisers that involve the sale of low-nutrition foods and beverages.
• Provide incentives for the sale of healthier foods and beverages in and near schools.
• Ban the sale of low-nutrition foods and beverages near schools at all times during the school day, including before and after school.
• Institute closed-campus policies to reduce children’s exposure to unhealthy foods and beverages and marketing near schools.

*Policy priority, rated highest for achievability and effectiveness.

Learn more

Check out the following policy guides, model policies and other resources:

School wellness policies

WellSAT: Wellness School Assessment Tool
Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity

Model school wellness policies
National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity

Policy in action: A guide to implementing your local school wellness policy
California Project LEAN, Center for Weight and Health at the University of California, Berkeley

Student wellness: A healthy food and physical activity policy resource guide (purchase required)
California School Boards Association, California Project LEAN

Food marketing in schools

Model state legislation on food marketing in schools [MS Word]
Center for Science in the Public Interest

Fact sheet: Marketing of low-nutrition foods and beverages in schools: Reading, writing, and a candy ad?
Center for Science in the Public Interest

District policy restricting food and beverage advertising on school grounds
National Policy & Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity

Captive kids: Selling obesity at schools (An action guide to stop the marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages in school)
California Project LEAN. Toolkit prepared by Peggy Agron, Victoria Berends, Noralee Cole, Cyndi Guerra Walter, Katherine Hawksworth, Jennifer Kam, and Maran Kammer-Perez.

Survey of food and beverage marketing in Montgomery County, MD schools [pdf], plus assessment tool [MS Word]
Center for Science in the Public Interest

Commercial-free schools act — San Francisco County, CA
Strategic Alliance

Food and beverage sales in schools

Fact Sheet: Developing a healthy beverage vending agreement [pdf]
National Policy & Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity

Model district policy establishing a healthy beverage vending program [pdf]
National Policy & Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity

Tool kit: A guide to improving school foods and beverages
Center for Science in the Public Interest

Food catering options in areas near schools

Zoning ordinance to keep fast food and carts far from schools — Detroit, MI
Strategic Alliance

State and local policy options

Reducing junk food marketing to children: State and local policy options for advocates and policy makers
Center for Science in the Public Interest