Describing School District Wellness Promotion And Marketing Policies In Western New York

School district wellness promotion and marketing (WPM) policies are important for promoting staff wellness, using physical activity as a reward versus punishment, and food marketing in school buildings, and may vary in strength (i.e., weak language: recommends action; versus strong language: requires action) and comprehensiveness (i.e., inclusion of policy components as required by federal law and evidence-based practice) by school district demographics. PURPOSE: To describe the strength and comprehensiveness of WPM policies by district geographic locale (i.e., rural, suburban, urban), enrollment, and socioeconomic status (SES). METHODS: Policies and demographics for 80 school districts in Western New York were collected from school district websites and the National Center for Education Statistics website. WPM policies (12 items) for each district were scored on their strength and comprehensiveness using the WellSAT WSCC, which is a validated tool for assessing school wellness policies. One-way ANOVAs with post-hoc tests were used to compare strength and comprehensiveness scores by demographics. RESULTS: Districts were low SES (i.e.,50%), rural (63%), and large in student enrollment (i.e., >2000 students; 44%). WPM strength (p = 0.020) and comprehensiveness (p = 0.019) varied by locale, such that urban districts (MStrength = 27.27, MComp = 27.27) had lower strength and comprehensiveness scores compared to rural (MStrength = 52.22, MComp = 52.4). For the strength of individual WPM items, rural districts scored significantly higher than urban districts for specifying marketing strategies to promote healthy food and beverage choices (rural M = 1.48 ± 0.89 vs. urban M = 0.73 ± 1.01; p = 0.047) and addressing marketing on school property and equipment (M = 1.4 ± 0.93 vs. urban M = 0.36 ± 0.81; p = 0.004). Urban districts (M = 0.55 ± 0.93) scored significantly lower than rural (M = 1.56 ± 0.84) and suburban (M = 1.58 ± 0.84) for addressing marketing of non-compliant Smart Snack foods and beverages through fundraising (p = 0.019). There were no differences for SES or enrollment. CONCLUSION: Urban districts need stronger policies to improve marketing and promotion of wellness-related behaviors, specifically those related to the marketing of healthy foods and beverages in school buildings.