摘要：It is increasingly recognized that sugar-sweetened beverage consumption contributes to childhood obesity. Most states have adopted laws that regulate the availability of sugar-sweetened beverages in school settings. However, such policies have encountered resistance from consumer and parent groups, as well as the beverage industry. The beverage industry’s recent adoption of voluntary guidelines, which call for the curtailment of sugar-sweetened beverage sales in schools, raises the question, Is further policy intervention in this area needed, and if so, what form should it take? We examine the interplay of public and private regulation of sugar-sweetened beverage sales in schools, by drawing on a 50-state legal and regulatory analysis and a review of industry self-regulation initiatives. THE CONTRIBUTORY ROLE OF the food and beverage industries to childhood obesity has come under increasing scrutiny. Policymakers have particularly fixed their sights on the beverage companies’ sales and marketing activities in schools. Recent research has documented high levels of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption by children and adolescents. 1 , 2 Evidence from experimental and longitudinal studies shows that increases in the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages are followed by excess weight gain. 3 – 5 Research has also highlighted the efforts of makers of sugar-sweetened beverages and other foods of low nutritional value to market their products to children, 6 , 7 the high susceptibility of young children to such campaigns, 6 – 9 and the complicity of many public school systems with companies’ sales efforts. 10 , 11 There is broad consensus among public health experts that childhood overweight has become a serious public health problem, 12 and the excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is increasingly acknowledged as a major contributor. 12 , 13 The question of whether and how to involve the government in addressing the problem, however, provokes controversy. 14 Efforts by state policymakers to adopt legislation or regulations that restrict the availability of sugar-sweetened beverages in schools have encountered resistance from consumer and parent groups 15 as well as the beverage industry, 16 who argue that children’s food choices are a matter of personal responsibility and parental choice. They further assert that government intervention is not needed, because the beverage industry has been responsive to public concerns about consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages by children. Under guidelines adopted in May 2006, the 3 largest sellers of sugar-sweetened beverages in the United States have agreed to work with schools—on a voluntary basis—to phase out school sales by 2010. 17 In October 2006, several major food companies announced similar guidelines for sales of unhealthy snacks. 18 The advent of these guidelines creates an opportune time to reflect on the respective roles of government and industry in preventing childhood obesity. More broadly, it highlights the dynamic interplay of public health lawmaking and industry self-regulation to address health risks. We examine public and private regulation of sugar-sweetened beverage sales in schools, by drawing on a 50-state legal and regulatory analysis.
