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Beverage Vending Purchasing Patterns and Attitudes in Southwest Virginia High School Students

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

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/31757
Date26 May 2006
CreatorsSpangler, Jennifer Anne LaBarge
ContributorsHuman Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Serrano, Elena L., Hosig, Kathryn W., Gaylord, Clark K.
PublisherVirginia Tech
Source SetsVirginia Tech Theses and Dissertation
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Formatapplication/pdf
RightsIn Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
RelationJLSpanglerVITA.pdf, JALSpangler.pdf

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