Abstract
BackgroundUnhealthy food marketing is considered a contributor to childhood obesity. In Canada, food marketing in schools is mostly self-regulated by industry though it is sometimes restricted through provincial school policies. The purpose of this study was to document the type of food marketing activities occurring in Canadian schools and examine differences by school characteristics.MethodsAn online survey was sent to public primary and secondary schools from 27 school boards in Ontario, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia and was completed by 154 Principals in spring 2016. This survey queried the type of food marketing occurring in schools including advertisements, food product displays, fundraising, exclusive marketing agreements, and incentive programs, among others. The occurrence of food marketing was described using frequencies, medians, and ranges. Chi-square and Fisher Exact tests were conducted to assess school-level differences in the frequency of marketing activities by school type (primary versus secondary), province (Ontario versus British Columbia), and the socio-economic status of most students (low versus middle/high income). The significance level was set at α < 0.05 for all tests.ResultsOverall, 84% of schools reported at least one type of food marketing and the median number of distinct types of marketing per school was 1 (range 0–6). The most frequently reported forms of marketing were the sale of branded food, particularly chocolate, pizza, and other fast food, for fundraising (64% of schools); food advertisements on school property (26%), and participation in incentive programs (18%). Primary schools (n = 108) were more likely to report participating in incentive programs (25%) and selling branded food items (72%) compared to secondary schools (n = 46; 2 and 43% respectively; p < 0.01). Conversely, secondary schools were more likely to report food advertising on school property (56%), exclusive marketing arrangements with food companies (43%), and food product displays (19%) than primary schools (13, 5 and 2%, respectively; p < 0.01).ConclusionThe presence of food marketing in most participating schools suggests that the current patchwork of policies that restrict food marketing in Canadian schools is inadequate. Comprehensive restrictions should be mandated by government in both primary and secondary schools to protect children and youth from this marketing.
Highlights
Unhealthy food marketing is considered a contributor to childhood obesity
These include: (1) appropriation of space, (2) corporate sponsorship of programs, events or contests, (3) exclusive marketing arrangements, (4) incentive programs, (5) sponsored educational materials, (6) electronic marketing and (7) fundraising [10, 14]
Our findings suggest that while present, school-based food marketing seems less pervasive in Canada compared to the United States
Summary
Unhealthy food marketing is considered a contributor to childhood obesity. In Canada, food marketing in schools is mostly self-regulated by industry though it is sometimes restricted through provincial school policies. Schools are an attractive setting for food companies interested in influencing children’s dietary behaviors They offer an opportunity to advertise (and sell) directly to a captive audience of young people segmented by age, among whom fostered brand loyalty may lead to lifelong consumption of promoted products [10, 11]. Many different forms of marketing have been identified in schools to date These include: (1) appropriation of space (i.e., using school property to promote companies through naming rights or advertising), (2) corporate sponsorship of programs, events or contests (i.e., corporations paying for or subsidizing activities in return for recognition), (3) exclusive marketing arrangements (i.e., contractual agreements giving companies exclusive rights to sell their products on school property), (4) incentive programs (i.e., programs that provide a commercial reward in return for student achievement), (5) sponsored educational materials (i.e., curricular materials provided to schools by corporate companies), (6) electronic marketing (i.e., the use of television, Internet or other media to promote brands) and (7) fundraising (i.e., direct sales of services or products of which a portion of the revenues are given to schools to raise money) [10, 14]
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