Skip to main content

Healthy options vending machines help schools' bank balance

By
Not only can vending machines with healthy options be good for students, but they can help a school's bank balance too, a pilot study has found.

The Food Standards Agency funded the study, which put machines containing healthier drinks, such as water, fruit juice and milk into 12 secondary schools, to go alongside their usual vending machines. It found that, given the option, students will frequently choose healthier options

About 70,000 healthier drinks were bought from the machines during the 24 weeks of the project, the most popular being pure juices, flavoured milk and milkshakes, semi-skimmed milk and mineral water.



The key to success was found to be involving students in the decisions made about the machine, its products and prices. The more successful schools used a 'whole school' approach to healthier eating so the vending machines support healthier eating messages given in lessons.

Other key pointers for success were:

-- Where the machine is placed

-- Commitment of staff to ensure the machines are working and have a range of products

-- Vending machines that are flexible enough to contain a range of products and capacity to meet demand

-- A system to record sales and students' feedback

'This study shows that providing healthier drinks vending in schools can be economically viable if managed properly,' said Food Standards Agency nutritionist Sam Church. 'This research is a positive step towards encouraging young people to choose healthier alternatives to fizzy and sugary drinks.'

If extended to just one in five secondary schools in England and Wales, an extra 14 million bottles and cartons of healthier drinks would be sold each year to students.

The Agency is planning to develop a practical guide for schools to introducing healthier drinks vending machines. This will include more detail on how to make the project successful and commercially sound.

Healthier drinks vending pilot study:
http://www.foodstandards.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/vendingreport.pdf

Healthier drinks vending pilot study
Lay summary of the vending project
http://www.foodstandards.gov.uk/multimedia/webpage/healhierdrinkspilot

Vending machines pilot study: your questions answered
http://www.foodstandards.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/vendingmachinesqanda/
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is too much soy bad for men?

By
While soy may be beneficial to women in a variety of ways, research in monkeys suggests that it could have an adverse effect on the behavior of men, according to researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. Reporting in the current issue of the scientific journal Hormones and Behavior, the researchers found that in male monkeys, "long-term consumption of a diet rich in soy isoflavones can have marked influences on patterns of aggression and social behavior." Isoflavones are a naturally occurring plant estrogen in soy protein. "Although considerable attention has been directed at the potentially beneficial effects of isoflavones in reducing the risk of various cancers, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease and postmenopausal symptoms, less effort has been invested in characterizing neurobehavioral effects," according to the study.
4 comments
Read more

Eating Fiber Reduces The Risk Of Heart Disease

By
A new study shows eating dietary fiber specifically from fruits and cereals lowers the risk of heart disease. Previous research has suggested a connection between higher intake of fiber and lower risk of heart disease. However, few studies have actually looked at the dietary fiber from different sources and the relationship to heart disease. In a recent study researchers analyzed several studies to determine whether the source of dietary fiber had any effect on the reduction in heart disease risk. The research included information from 91,058 men and 245,186 women. Each study recorded what kind of foods and how much the participant ate. Researchers say among the total participants, 5,249 suffered from heart disease and 2,011 died from coronary heart disease during the six- to 10-year follow-ups. For each 10-gram increment of fiber consumed per day, study researchers found a 14-percent decrease in the risk of coronary heart disease. They also found for each 10-gram increment o
Post a Comment
Read more

How to help your overweight child

By
HEALTHY EATING AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY habits are key to your child's well-being. Eating too much and exercising too little can lead to overweight and related health problems that can follow children into adult years. You can take an active role in helping your child-and your whole family-learn healthy eating and physical activity habits that may last for a lifetime. IS MY CHILD OVERWEIGHT? Because children grow at different rates at different times, it is not always easy to tell if a child is overweight. If you think that your child is overweight, talk to your health care provider. Your health care provider can measure your child's height and weight and tell you if your child is in a healthy range. HOW CAN I HELP MY OVERWEIGHT CHILD? Involve the whole family in building healthy eating and physical activity habits. It benefits everyone and does not single out the child who is overweight. Try to: - Be supportive - Encourage healthy eating habits - Encourage daily ph
Post a Comment
Read more