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

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

Myths stop women breastfeeding their babies

By
A survey published today by The UK Department of Health for National Breastfeeding Awareness Week (9 - 15 May) shows that serious misunderstandings may be stopping women, particularly young women, from breastfeeding. (1) Although the benefits of breastfeeding are well known (2), the UK has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in Europe. Almost a third of women (29%) in England and Wales (3) never try to breastfeed compared to 2% in Sweden.(4) Younger women in particular are less likely to breastfeed with over 40% of mothers under 24 never trying. (3) The new survey of 1000 women shows: Myth: Over a third (34%) of women believe that modern infant formula milks are very similar or the same as breast milk Fact: Infant formula milk does not contain the antibodies, living cells, enzymes or hormones present in breastmilk. Breastmilk is designed for each individual baby and changes over time whereas infant formula milk is designed for every baby. -- Myth: A fifth (20%) of young women ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Highlights of June Journal of the American Dietetic Association

By
Too Fat, Too Thin: Weight-Control Behaviors among Girls and Boys The future health of our country's children may rest in the foods they choose and their physical activity patterns. Often children are not eating the recommended servings from the Food Guide Pyramid. Their intake of milk is declining, while soft drink intake and overall food portion sizes appear to be increasing. To examine links between healthful and unhealthful weigh-control behaviors, researchers from the University of Minnesota studied dietary intake patterns of 4,144 middle and high school students. Healthful weight-control behaviors were defined as increasing fruits and vegetables and decreasing foods high in fats and sugars in moderation. Unhealthful weight-control behaviors were defined as skipping meals, fasting, using food substitutes and smoking. Among other findings, the researchers discovered: Girls using unhealthful weight-control behaviors had poorer overall dietary intakes than girls reportin...
Post a Comment
Read more