142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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Assessing the landscape of vending machine content prior to the full implementation of the 100% healthy County of Los Angeles nutrition policy for vending machines in the work place

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Sunday, November 16, 2014

Brenda Robles, MPH , Division of Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA
Michelle Wood, MPP , Division of Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA
Michael Leighs, MPP , Division of Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA
Tony Kuo, MD, MSHS , Division of Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA
Introduction: The Vending Machine Nutrition Policy adopted in 2006 by the County of Los Angeles(‘County’) Board of Supervisors called for a gradual phase-in of nutrition standards for all snacks and beverages sold in County-contracted vending machines. In 2009, this institutional policy was expanded to 100% healthy nutrition at required County departments, based on vendor contract status – applies only to new or renewal contracts. This meeting session will describe the pre-policy implementation landscape of vending machines in the County and present preliminary results from an evaluative assessment of this food environment prior to full policy implementation.

Approach: A vending machine inventory was compiled with the help of the County’s Chief Executive Office. This inventory contained a detailed breakdown of 401 vending machines located in various venues across the County. The list was used to randomly select a representative sample of vending machines for inclusion in the evaluative assessment. Vending machine content was evaluated based on data collected using an adapted version of the observational tool, Nutrition Environment Measures Survey for Vending (NEMS-V).

Results: In total, 49 randomly selected machines (12%) were evaluated. Although more than half of all beverages (57%) in these vending machines were already consistent with the forthcoming 100% healthy nutrition standards, only about one-quarter (27%) of all snacks met the new requirements.

Discussion: Results suggest that extensive technical assistance (TA) may be required to help Departments within the County meet the 100% healthy vending machine nutrition standards. Development of this TA infrastructure is under way.

Learning Areas:

Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Program planning
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Describe the process of evaluating institutional food policies and how to apply results to program planning. Assess the initial landscape of vending machine environments in a large government, prior to full implementation of a 100% healthy vending machine nutrition policy.

Keyword(s): Data Collection and Surveillance, Policy/Policy Development

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I received an MPH and work for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health as a nutrition-focused program evaluator. I have conducted community-level research and designed large evaluation plans for several federally-funded, multi-million obesity prevention efforts. The primary focus of my work has been to evaluate our County of Los Angeles Department’s adherence with established and forthcoming nutrition standards and other healthy food procurement practices in the food and vending service settings.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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