Recreation Facility Food and Beverage Environments in Ontario, Canada: An Appeal for Policy

Abstract

Canadian, municipally funded recreation/sport facilities typically have unhealthy food environments. Ontario, unlike some provinces, lacks a voluntary recreation facility nutrition policy. This study assessed the healthfulness of food environments and vending sales in 16 Ontario recreation/sport facilities and, secondarily, compared data from facilities within municipalities that banned versus permitted plastic bottled-water sales (water-ban, n = 8; water, n = 8) to test the nutritional effects of environmental policy. Concession and vending packaged food/beverage offerings and vending sales were audited twice, eighteen months apart. The products were categorized using nutrition guidelines as Sell Most (SM), Sell Sometimes (SS), and Do Not Sell (DNS). Both water and water-ban facilities offered predominantly (>87%) DNS packaged food items. However, proportions of DNS and SM concession and vending beverages differed (p < 0.01). DNS beverages averaged 74% and 88% of vending offerings in water and water-ban facilities, respectively, while SM beverages averaged 14% and 1%, respectively. Mirroring offerings, DNS beverages averaged 79% and 90% of vending sales in water versus water-ban facilities. Ontario recreation/sport facilities provided unhealthy food environments; most food/beverage offerings were energy-dense and nutrient-poor. Water bans were associated with increased facility-based exposure to DNS beverage options. A nutrition policy is recommended to make recreation facility food/beverage environments healthier and to mitigate unintended negative consequences of bottled-water bans.

Food and beverage selection in children’s sports arenas in Norway: a cross-sectional study

“…Despite the increased knowledge about performance nutrition and healthy diets in many industrial countries, food selection in sports arenas does not cater to these requirements. This survey and previous findings from other countries (11,15,29) highlight that the obvious opportunities for healthy food selections in the sports arena are by establishing professional guidelines, including nutritional arguments, recipes and cooking advice, and arranging food supply agreements. Thus, governmental efforts must be implemented to enforce cultural changes by engaging the club at the top level (including the federations) and involving communication by elite athletes.…”

“…This points to an optimal opportunity to affect a large number of adolescents, as more than 70 % of Norwegian adolescents participate in children and youth sport (10) . However, several international reports state that sports arenas are often used to promote energy-dense and nutrient-poor food and beverages that are not in line with nutrition guidelines (11)(12)(13)(14)(15) . Other countries, such as Canada and New Zealand, have implemented and evaluated initiatives for guidelines on food offers at the sports arenas (16,17) .…”

A need for multi-sector and multi-pronged solutions to address the many barriers inhibiting change from unhealthy food environments in publicly funded recreation facilities: a mixed-method study

“…As PRFs are often preferred gathering places for families, the importance of their food environments (FEs) are gaining recognition in Canada (Canadian Parks and Recreation Association/Interprovincial Sport and Recreation Council 2015). Some Canadian PRFs have foods and beverages available through food outlets such as concession stands and vending machines, although these options have been described as unhealthy and contradictive to participation in recreation activities supporting health and wellness (Chaumette et al 2009;Cejalvo et al 2014;Caswell et al 2021). Similar concerns regarding unhealthy FEs in PRFs have also been reported in other countries.…”

Adolescents’ experiences with the food selection at the sports arena in the area of Oslo, Norway: a focus group study

“…Sport is integral to many adolescents' lives, and those who frequently play sport spend considerable amount of time in these activities outside of school. Thus, sports arenas may be important to promote health and stimulate positive healthy behaviours (2)(3)(4)(5)(6) . However, sports arenas are often characterised by the unhealthy food on offer, which includes a wide range of energy-dense, nutrient-poor, processed items that are quick to prepare and inexpensive to provide (2,(7)(8)(9)(10)(11) .…”