Assessing Beverage Vending Machine Options on a College Campus

Objective: To evaluate the availability, cost, and nutrient content of sugarsweetened beverages (SSBs) on a Midwestern university campus in 2008 and 2012. Design: Retroactive data obtained on beverage vending machines from the library, student union, and two academic buildings from 2008 and 2012 were analyzed. Information collected included the type of beverage, brand name, product (container) size, price, and the number of slots in which the beverage appeared. A nutrient content analysis was made on sampled beverages. Main Outcome Measures: Number of different categories of beverages stocked in vending machines; change in costs of beverages (including bottled plain water) in 2008 and 2012; and nutrient content of these beverages. Analysis: Tests of analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Wilcoxon signed rank tests were used to test differences between availability and cost of beverages, respectively. All tests were two-tailed and an alpha level of 0.05 was used to determine statistical significance. Results: There was a significant interaction effect between year and assessed building, F (2.4, 24.0) = 5.318, p = 0.009. There was no significant difference in price of SSB (p = 0.345) and non-SSBs (p = 0.276) from 2008 to 2012. Conclusions and Implications: The college campus vending machine environment may encourage a greater consumption of empty-calorie products because of increased availability of SSBs.