More apples fewer chips? the effect of school fruit schemes on the consumption of junk food

Abstract

Objectives: Using Italian data, we evaluate the effects on the consumption of unhealthy snacks of a European Union-wide campaign providing fruit and vegetables to school children and promoting healthy diet habits.

Methods: We use scanner data of supermarket sales in the city of Rome. Using a difference-in-difference approach, we compare the sales of these snacks before and after the campaign in supermarkets located within a 500 m radius of schools that participated to the program (the treated group) and in supermarkets located outside that radius (control group).

Results: We find that the campaign has been effective in reducing the increase in the sales of unhealthy snacks in treated stores - relative to control stores - only in the case of regular stores, which tend to locate in the wealthier areas of Rome. No effect is found, instead, for discount stores, where people with a higher risk of developing obesity are more likely to shop.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that the European School Fruit campaign has restrained the consumption of junk food in the sub-group of the population (wealthier families) who is less likely to be exposed to overweight and obesity problems, but has not been effective at all for the sub-group more at risk.

Keywords: EU School Fruit campaign; Junk food; Obesity; Overweight; Rome.