Are Vending Machines Part of the Problem?

Vending machines have become a common feature in most high schools across the nation. Their contents mostly consist of soda, sports drinks, and energy drinks. Snack machines include a variety of processed, packaged foods.

Sports drinks are intended to rehydrate athletes or anyone who exercises intensely. Unfortunately, these drinks are high in both sugar and calorie content, but low in nutritional value, and many of the students who purchase these drinks are not engaging in strenuous physical activity. For them, the drinks are empty calories that can contribute heavily to weight gain. Soda and energy drinks typically contain both empty calories and large amounts of sugar.

Snack foods found in vending machines are overwhelmingly unhealthy--Poptarts, chips, candy bars, pie, etc. These items are usually high in saturated fat (and sometimes trans fat) as well as calories and sugar. They are also usually low in healthy content such as fiber and protein.

Most schools contain vending machines because the additional income is significant. By making deals with specific companies, such as Coke or Pepsi, schools can charge both one-time and annual fees. They can also make a commission from any products that they sell from vending machines in the school.

As part of its ongoing campaign against childhood obesity, the Obama administration has begun taking steps to improve the quality of vending machine food and drinks in schools. The plan includes eliminating unhealthy items such as cookies and salty foods, and replacing them with more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

While these practices may take some time to implement, experiments have shown that it's definitely possible to get kids to adopt healthier habits. In 2004, a high school assistant principal in Minneapolis replaced 75% of the drink machines in his school with only water, and only allowed water in classrooms. In two years, profits from the machines went from $4,500 to $11,000, proving that water is a lucrative alternative to soda and other unhealthy drinks.