Although California high schools are increasingly promoting
healthy snack choices for students, a new statewide study concluded
the majority of campus marketing remained devoted to junk food and
cola beverages. Of the 20 high schools studied by the Public Health
Institute, one was in Santa Barbara – though the report’s authors
declined to identify which one. The report found 60 percent of
promotional posters found in high school halls extolling junk food,
while less than 28 percent of promo materials pushed healthy
snacks. The offending advertisements were most frequently found on
the vending machines themselves, according to the study. With
adolescent obesity on the rise, Californian public schools have
come under increasing pressure to limit junk-food access; school
officials argue that such marketing covers the costs of numerous
extracurricular programs.
