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Calories In, Calories Out: Food and Exercise in Public Elementary Schools, 2005

NCES 2006-057
May 2006

Foods Sold at Vending Machines and School Stores or Snack Bars

The survey collected information on the types of food available at vending machines and school stores or snack bars in 2005, and the times when those foods were available. Information on the availability of foods at vending machines and school stores or snack bars was restricted to the following nondairy beverages and snack foods:

  • Nondairy beverages: 100% fruit or vegetable juice, sports drinks or fruit drinks that are not 100% juice, soft drinks, and bottled water; and
  • Snack foods: candy; low-fat salty snacks such as pretzels and baked or other low-fat chips; salty snacks that are not low in fat such as regular potato chips and cheese puffs; low-fat cookies, cakes, pastries, and other baked goods; and cookies, cakes, pastries, and other baked goods that are not low in fat.

Types of Food

All public elementary schools indicated whether each of the nine foods listed above was available to students at vending machines and at school stores or snack bars in 2005.

  • Twenty-two percent of public elementary schools offered at least one of the nine foods for sale at vending machines (tables 3 and 6), and 31 percent offered at least one of the listed foods at school stores or snack bars (tables 3 and 7).1
  • The percentage of public elementary schools that offered nondairy beverages at vending machines ranged from 9 percent for soft drinks to 18 percent for bottled water (tables 3 and 6). In addition, 4 to 6 percent of the schools offered snack foods for sale at vending machines.
  • The proportion of public elementary schools that offered the various foods for sale at vending machines differed by school characteristics (table 6). For example, small schools were more likely than medium-sized or large schools to offer each of the listed food items at vending machines, with the exception of 100% fruit or vegetable juice and bottled water (table 6). In addition, rural schools were more likely than schools in other locales to offer at least one of the listed foods and each of the nondairy beverages at vending machines. Rural schools were also more likely than those located in cities and urban fringes to offer each of the listed snack foods at vending machines (table 6).
  • The proportion of public elementary schools that offered nondairy beverages for sale at school stores or snack bars ranged from 6 percent for soft drinks to 17 percent for 100% fruit or vegetable juice and bottled water (tables 3 and 7). The proportion of schools that offered snack foods ranged from 11 percent for candy to 19 percent for low-fat salty snacks.
  • Schools were more likely to report the availability of foods in the school stores or snack bars if foods were sold to generate funds than if the foods were not sold for this purpose (table 7). This difference was observed for the sale of each of the listed foods except soft drinks and candy.

Times When Foods Were Available

Respondents were asked about the times at which vending machine foods and foods at school stores or snack bars were available to students in 2005-at mealtimes, other times during the school day, outside of the school day (e.g., during school-sponsored before- or after-school activities), and any other time (tables 8 and 9).2

  • Vending machine foods were available to students during mealtimes in 8 percent of all public elementary schools (table 8). In addition, 11 percent of all public elementary schools had foods available at vending machines at other times during the school day, and 14 percent had foods available outside of the school day. Among the 23 percent of public elementary schools with vending machines (table 1), 33 percent had vending machine foods available during mealtimes, 46 percent had the foods available at other times during the school day, and 61 percent had the foods available to students outside of the school day (table 8).3
  • Fifteen percent of public elementary schools had school store or snack bar foods available to students during mealtimes (table 9). In addition, 11 percent of all public elementary schools had foods available at school stores or snack bars at other times during the school day, and 14 percent of the schools had foods available at this location outside of the school day. Among the 35 percent of public elementary schools with school stores or snack bars (table 1), 43 percent had foods available at this location during mealtimes, 33 percent had the foods available at other times during the school day, and 41 percent had the foods available to students outside of the school day (table 9).4
  • The percentage of all public elementary schools that offered school store or snack bar foods during mealtimes differed by region and whether the foods were sold to generate funds (table 9). Schools in the Northeast were more likely than those in other regions to sell foods at school stores or snack bars at mealtimes. In addition, schools were more likely to report the availability of foods in the school stores or snack bars at mealtimes if foods were sold to generate funds than if the foods were not sold for this purpose.

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1 These measures are different from the two measures discussed in table 1, i.e., whether schools sold vending machine foods and school store or snack bar foods. As indicated in the section on types of food services, the measure of whether schools sold vending machine foods was derived from question 4 of the survey, which asked when vending machine foods were available to students. Schools that checked "never" were coded as not having vending machine foods for sale, while those that checked any of the other responses to the question were coded as having vending machine foods for sale. The measure of whether schools sold foods at school stores or snack bars was derived from question 6 in a similar way. However, the measure of whether schools sold at least one of the nine listed foods at vending machines was derived from question 5, which asked whether each vending machine food was available to students. Similarly, the measure of whether schools sold at least one of the nine listed foods at school stores or snack bars was derived from question 7, which asked whether each food was available to students at this location. See Acrobat PDF File - Questionnaire appendix B (80 KB) for a copy of the questionnaire.
2 The percentage of schools that reported some other time when foods were available at vending machines and at school stores or snack bars is not shown in tables 8 and 9 because it represents only 2 percent for vending machines and 5 percent for school stores or snack bars.
3 Respondents could report multiple times when vending machine foods were available.
4 Respondents could report multiple times when school store or snack bar foods were available.