Proposed Federal Rules Target Junk-Food Marketing in Schools

First Lady Michelle Obama, in a White House conference with US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, unveiled proposed new rules that aim to shield students from junk-food advertising during the school day.

The new proposed school wellness rules will help ensure that foods and beverages that are marketed to children in school align with the recent Smart Snacks in School standards and will improve upon local student-nutrition policies in the Healthy-Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. Once in effect, advertisements for foods that do not meet federal guidelines, such as junk foods and soda, will be banned from campuses during the school day. Schools that do not wish to comply with these guidelines would be allowed to leave the National School Lunch Program, and forgo their corresponding government reimbursements. To aid schools with the implementation of these policies, the Agriculture Department will launch a new "School Nutrition Environment and Wellness Resources" website that will include wellness policies for districts and resources for on-campus food marketing practices.