Addressing Sugary Drinks Through the Local School Wellness Policy

School districts throughout California have revised their local school wellness policies and implemented the USDA’s Smart Snacks in Schools rules.

These efforts provide districts the opportunity to improve student health by comprehensively addressing the availability of sugary drinks in schools within their local school wellness policy.

While children and adolescents consume the majority of their sugary drink calories at home, it is estimated that at least 7 percent to 15 percent, and potentially as much as 22 percent, of sugary drink calories are consumed at school. Comprehensive policies that remove or restrict the availability and/or serving size of the full spectrum of sugary drinks in schools are an effective method for lowering children’s and adolescents’ consumption of them.

ChangeLab Solutions, in collaboration with CA4Health, developed this fact sheet on how school districts can use their school wellness policies to reduce sugary drink consumption. It includes information on what beverages California schools can sell to students, the importance of addressing sugary drinks in local school wellness policies, and optional sugary drink policy elements that school districts can include in their of local school wellness policy.