Unhealthy Food Advertisements Allowed in Schools

An amended wellness policy lets unhealthy foods to be advertised in schools.

The school board approved an amendment on Tuesday to its wellness policy, but took out a stipulation barring unhealthy food advertisements from schools.

After a brief discussion, the board of trustees voted to remove a passage from the policy reading, “the Board prohibits the marketing and advertising of non-nutritious foods and beverages through signage, vending machine fronts, logos, scoreboards, school supplies, advertisements in school publications, coupon or incentive programs, or other means.”

Barring unhealthy ads would take a lot of revenue from the schools, said Trustee Allan Pulsipher.

Advertisement sales fund the school in various ways, said Trustee Allan Pulsipher.

Selling ads in the yearbook, in sporting event programs and on scoreboards fund the schools, he said.

Many of these advertisers are selling junk food, the trustees agreed.

“We raise a lot of money with these kinds of relationships,” Pulsipher said.

If the district were to bar companies selling junk foods from buying these ads, “we’ll eliminate a lot of sponsors,” he said.

Restaurants selling unhealthy foods also fund some school programs, Trustee Vince O’Neal said.

“I can think of several restaurants that are sponsors of student of the month and student of the week that would cause a problem,” he said.

The wellness policy was instituted in 2006, and the latest amendment includes changes mandated by the federal government, said Lori Ordway-Peck, the assistant superintendent of business services.

The federally mandated changes make the code stricter, she said. “There is a very definite emphasis on wellness at the federal level,” she said.

The policy lays out specific guidelines governing what foods can be served or sold, stocked in vending machines or even sold during fund drives.

To read the new wellness policy – with the stricken passage included – click here.

More than 10 percent of students fall short on national measures of physical fitness, such as flexibility and strength, Ordway-Peck said.

One trustee, Kristi Rutz-Robbins, voiced unease with removing the passage from the amendment, though she voted to approve it after a discussion.

Allowing junk food makers to advertise to kids tells the children the food is good, Rutz-Robbins said. “We’re tacitly approving these things even though we know they’re not healthy,” she said before the vote.

If the school enacted the policy without cutting the stipulation out, and it were found to be violating the policy, the district could be fined, Ordway-Peck said.