September 19, 2006 -- Study Finds Schools Expose Children to Junk Food Advertising

Through a combination of sponsorships, incentive programs, and “appropriation of space,” public schools currently expose between 26.6 million and 30.3 million students to advertising of foods of minimal nutritional value or foods high in fat and sugar, according to a study conducted by the Commercialism in Education Research Unit at Arizona State University. In an analysis of a stratified sample of U.S. schools at elementary, middle, and high levels, researchers found that 67 percent of schools have food company sponsors for sports teams, clubs, or scholarships; 71 percent of schools accept food company sponsorship of incentives such as free goods or coupons for academic achievement; and 40 percent of schools display brands, logos, or names on vending machines, scoreboards, sports fields, or in the form of corporate “naming rights” for school facilities. Commercial sponsorships are often cited as a needed source of extra income for schools, but in the Arizona study, 68 percent of schools that participated in advertising reported receiving no income at all from those activities and only 5 percent reported receiving more than $10,000. And despite widespread current acceptance of food-company sponsorship, 69 percent of the school officials contacted said they would favor increased regulation of advertising in schools by corporations that sell foods of minimal nutritional value or foods high in fat and sugar. Details of the study can be found at http://www.asu.edu/educ/epsl/CERU/CERU_2006_Research_Writing.htm.