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

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, = 8; water, = 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 , , and . Both water and water-ban facilities offered predominantly (>87%) packaged food items. However, proportions of and concession and vending beverages differed ( < 0.01). beverages averaged 74% and 88% of vending offerings in water and water-ban facilities, respectively, while beverages averaged 14% and 1%, respectively. Mirroring offerings, 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 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.