Fast food restaurants spend millions of dollars to attract young consumers. Toys and other giveaways packaged with meals are a major marketing tactic: in 2006, fast food restaurants sold more than 1.2 billion children’s meals with toys to children ages 12 and younger. Cities and counties can take an important step to promote children's health by breaking the link between toys and unhealthy restaurant food.

NPLAN has created a model ordinance (and accompanying fact sheet) addressing the fast-foods industry’s tactics for marketing to children and supports parents who want their children to eat healthier meals:

• Healthier Toy Giveaway Meals: Questions and Answers about NPLAN’s Model Ordinance, a fact sheet outlining the strategies for breaking the link between unhealthy meals and toys (download below).

• Model Ordinance for Healthier Toy Giveaway Meals helps local governments steer restaurants toward providing healthier options for children by setting a ceiling for the amount of calories, sugar, fat, and salt permitted in a meal accompanied by a toy or other prize (download below).

Santa Clara County and the city of San Francisco recently became the first jurisdictions in the nation to enact legislation similar to NPLAN’s model ordinance. The San Francisco ordinance can be found here and the Santa Clara County ordinance can be found here. NPLAN has also prepared a Legal Q&A on Healthier Toy Giveaway Meals.