Associations Between School Wellness Policies and Availability of Foods and Beverages in Competitive Venues

Introduction: Higher availability of less healthy foods and beverages outside of school meal programs (i.e., competitive venues) may lead to poorer nutrition and increased risk of obesity among students. Since 2006-07, schools participating in federal meal programs are required to have wellness policies, the first federal legislation that encompasses competitive foods. This cross-sectional study examined whether federally-required components of school wellness policies were associated with availability of different types of foods and beverages in competitive venues.

Methods: Questionnaire data were collected from 892 middle schools and 1019 high schools in nationally representative samples from 2008-2011. Wellness policy scores were calculated based on school administrators’ reports of four required wellness policy components (goals, nutrition guidelines, implementation plan/person responsible, stakeholder involvement). Availability of food and beverage items (e.g., low-fat foods, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB)) in three competitive venues (vending machines, school stores, à la carte) was assessed. Poisson and logistic regressions were used to test hypothesized associations, controlling for school characteristics.

Results: About one-third of students (31.8%) were in schools with all four wellness policy components. Predominantly white schools had higher wellness policy scores than other schools. After controlling for school characteristics, higher wellness policy scores were associated with higher availability of low-fat and whole grain foods and lower availability of regular-fat/sugar foods in middle and high schools. In middle schools, higher scores were also associated with lower availability of 2%/whole milk. High schools with higher scores also had lower sugar-sweetened beverage availability and higher availability of non-/low-fat milk, fruits/vegetables, and salad bars.

Conclusions: Although effects of wellness policies on availability of foods and beverages in competitive venues were small in magnitude, effects of this size could translate into a large impact at the population level. Public health practitioners should provide support to schools with incomplete wellness policies. Schools may need to address the availability of more healthful foods such as fruits and vegetables more explicitly through wellness policies and other environmental interventions.