Purpose: This article examines changes in attitude and beverage consumption after a school-wide policy change replacing sweetened beverages in vending machines with 100% juice and bottled water.
Methods: Written questionnaires were administered three times to high school students (n = 278) in an ethnically-diverse, southwest Virginia school district. X ² analysis was utilized and test-retest reliability was assessed with intra-class correlation coefficients.
Results: Pearson correlation coefficients for reliability between test and re-test displayed a range from r =0.53 to r =0.73. There were no significant differences in demographics (gender and ethnicity) between time periods. X ² analysis revealed students were significantly more likely to choose healthier beverage vending options after one year compared to baseline (P<0.01). Although beverage vending purchases declined to near significance immediately following the change, there were no significant changes observed between baseline and follow-up (P<0.05). X ² analysis revealed no significant (P<0.05) changes in outside purchase patterns. Students also indicated that the top reasons for snack/beverage choices were hunger, taste, and price.
Conclusion: This suggests that students purchase what is convenient and available, regardless of choices. Therefore, environmental changes may be beneficial to promote healthier beverage choices among adolescents.</p> / Master of Science
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/31757 |
| Date | 26 May 2006 |
| Creators | Spangler, Jennifer Anne LaBarge |
| Contributors | Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Serrano, Elena L., Hosig, Kathryn W., Gaylord, Clark K. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
| Relation | JLSpanglerVITA.pdf, JALSpangler.pdf |
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