Healthier food and healthier food environments at sports events

Book excerpt: Healthy,safeandsustainabledietsareimportantforbothhumanandplanetaryhealth,andsportsevents ought to be an ideal setting to model and promote healthy eating as part of a healthy lifestyle. Yet, even with the best of intentions, foods and beverages high in fats, sugars or salt are typically abundant in and aroundstadiaduringlargeandsmallsportsevents,oftenconsumedinexcessbyfansonmatchdays,and are also frequently associated with sports-related marketing and sponsorships. The foods and beverages consumed at sports events contribute little to an individual’s overall diet, butthe total number of meals, snacks and beverages sold can be substantial. Providing a variety of healthy, delicious and easy-to-consume food while providing fewer options and smaller portions of unhealthy options within these environments can contribute to health, wellness and the prevention of diet-related noncommunicable disease. Likewise, the high visibility of sports mega-events, in particular, offers valuable opportunities for potentially larger impact reaching billions of fans worldwide, creating positive perceptions of healthier foods and beverages at the stadia and beyond. This document - intended for use by sports events organizers - proposes five actions to achieve healthier food and healthier food environments, and suggests related activities that can happen during the planning, operational and post-event phases of sports events. It may also be used by governments, local authoritiesandsportsstadiamanagerstocreateahealthypublicfoodprocurementandservicepolicyfor sport settings more generally.