Little is known about school-based digital marketing and how to help schools comply with model policies given new competitive food standards. The specific aims of this study are to: 1) assess the different forms of digital food and beverage marketing that may occur in school settings; 2) assess whether school marketing environments in Portland, Maine, align with the federal regulations on competitive foods, before and after a school-year-long compliance support intervention; 3) assist Portland schools to update their school marketing policies so they align with new standards and remove marketing to comply with those standards; and 4) conduct an ongoing participatory evaluation of these technical assistance efforts. A longitudinal study design will be used to assess school marketing environments in one elementary school, one middle school, and one high school. Primary outcomes will include measures of: prevalence and types of school marketing, including digital marketing; school and/or district school food marketing practices and regulations; marketing removal options, including cost of marketing removal, resources needed, and barriers encountered; and level of satisfaction with the technical assistance provided.
Start Date: February 2014
ID #: 71639
Principal Investigator: Michele Polacsek, PhD, MHS
Organization: University of New England
Funding Round: Round 8
Age Groups: Adolescents (grades 9 to 12), Elementary-age children (grades K to 5), Young adolescents (grades 6 to 8)
Keywords: Beverage contracts, Competitive foods, Digital marketing, Food advertising, Legal, Media, Nutrition standards, School wellness policies, Vending machines
Focus Areas: Food Marketing, School & After School
Resource Type: Grant Summary
State: Maine
Race/Ethnicity: Multi-racial/ethnic, White
Related Research
March 2017
Investigating How to Align Schools’ Marketing Environments With Federal Standards for Competitive Foods
The goal of this study was to determine how to improve school marketing environments so that they align with new federal competitive food standards. The research team assessed the food marketing environments in three schools in Portland, Maine, using the food and beverage marketing in schools (FMBS) survey, and provided schools with technical assistance to MoreDecember 2024
Estimating Young Children’s Exposure to Food and Beverage Marketing on Mobile Devices
Food and beverage marketing drives poor diet quality and obesity risk among children. However, it is unknown how much young children are exposed to digital food and beverage marketing on mobile devices like tablets and smartphones. The objective of this study was to estimate how frequently young children, who are particularly vulnerable to advertising, view MoreNovember 2024