Fast food restaurants spend millions of dollars to attract young consumers. Toys and other giveaways packaged with meals are a major marketing tactic: in 2006, fast food restaurants sold more than 1.2 billion children’s meals with toys to children ages 12 and younger. Cities and counties can take an important step to promote children's health by breaking the link between toys and unhealthy restaurant food. 

NPLAN has created a model ordinance, with accompanying fact sheet and chart, addressing the fast-foods industry’s tactics for marketing to children and supports parents who want their children to eat healthier meals.

• Healthier Toy Giveaway Meals: Questions and Answers about NPLAN’s Model Ordinance, a fact sheet outlining the strategies for breaking the link between unhealthy meals and toys.

• Model Ordinance for Healthier Toy Giveaway Meals helps local governments steer restaurants toward providing healthier options for children by setting a ceiling for the amount of calories, sugar, fat, and salt permitted in a meal accompanied by a toy or other prize.

• How McDonald’s New Happy Meal Standards Line Up Against the Nutrition Standards in Three Toy Giveaway Policies compares the nutritional content of McDonalds Happy Meal items to standards established by NPLAN, Santa Clara County, and the city of San Francisco.

Santa Clara County and the city of San Francisco were the first jurisdictions in the nation to enact legislation similar to NPLAN’s model ordinance. The San Francisco ordinance can be found here and the Santa Clara County ordinance can be found here.