Restricting access to vending machines in schools: A strategy to improve the school-nutrition environment?

Background: Improving the school-nutrition environment by restricting the sale of competitive foods/beverages has recently been implemented by many states as a major approach to address the problem of childhood obesity. The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between vending machine purchasing and diet as reported by children and adolescents. Methods: The 2005 YouthStyles mail panel survey collected data from 920 children and adolescents who reported (1) attending a public school and (2) access to a school vending machine. Associations between self-reported vending machine purchasing frequency and consumption of milk, fruit juice, regular soda, diet soda, chocolate candy, and other candy were examined. Weighted logistic regression models adjusted for gender and age were developed to compute odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. All analyses were conducted using SAS (v9.1). Results: Compared to children who did not report purchasing foods or beverages from a school vending machine during a typical week, those who reported purchases on three or more days were more likely to consume fruit juice (OR=1.79; 95% CI=1.08-2.96), regular soda (OR=2.92; 95% CI=1.80-4.73), and chocolate candy (OR=3.03; 95% CI=1.67-5.49). No associations were found between vending machine purchasing frequency and milk, diet soda, or other candy consumption. Conclusions: Children and adolescents who have access to vending machines at school may have an increased likelihood of consuming items typically sold in vending machines, such as soda and snack foods. These findings confirm that continuing policy efforts are warranted to encourage access to healthy foods/beverages in schools.