Milk Vending Does Not Improve College Students’ Milk and Calcium Intakes

Abstract

In the transition from adolescence to young adulthood, overall diet quality decreases, including a reduction in both dairy and calcium consumption. The objective of this pilot study was to determine the impact of milk vending on milk and calcium intakes in college students. Participants were 124 college students living in dorms at a large public university (Fall 2012). Milk vending machines were installed in two campus dorms. Before and 2 months after installation, students were surveyed about milk and calcium intakes, as well as attitudes regarding milk vending. Sales data for the newly installed machines were also collected between the pre- and posttest surveys. Students reported similar milk and calcium consumption before and after the intervention. Mean calcium intakes were lower than the recommended dietary allowance for students in either life stage group (18 years old or 19 years and older). Milk vending sales data showed that during the study period, approximately nine bottles of milk were bought each day from the two dorms combined. Results from this study suggest that milk vending alone may not be an effective strategy for preventing the commonly observed decrease in milk and calcium intakes among college students.

Effectiveness of Nutrition Interventions in Vending Machines to Encourage the Purchase and Consumption of Healthier Food and Drinks in the University Setting: A Systematic Review

“…The types of intervention strategies included promotion of healthier food and drink choices (n = 11, 85%) [13,14,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25], increasing the availability of healthier food and drinks within vending machines (n = 8, 62%) [13,14,[22][23][24][25][26][27], price alterations (n = 4, 31%) [13,14,20,24], and modifying product placement within vending machines (n = 2, 15%) [14,23]. Interventions in seven studies involved more than one of these strategies, with three studies using two strategies [20,22,25], three studies using three strategies [13,23,24], and one study using four strategies [14]. The most common combinations of strategies were increasing the availability and promotion of healthier food and/or drink choices [22,25] and increasing the availability and promotion of healthier food and/or drink choices and price alterations [13,24], used in two studies each.…”

“…Interventions in seven studies involved more than one of these strategies, with three studies using two strategies [20,22,25], three studies using three strategies [13,23,24], and one study using four strategies [14]. The most common combinations of strategies were increasing the availability and promotion of healthier food and/or drink choices [22,25] and increasing the availability and promotion of healthier food and/or drink choices and price alterations [13,24], used in two studies each. The outcome measures included purchases/sales from vending machines in all except one study (n = 12, 92%) [13,14,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]28] (Table 2).…”

“…The most common combinations of strategies were increasing the availability and promotion of healthier food and/or drink choices [22,25] and increasing the availability and promotion of healthier food and/or drink choices and price alterations [13,24], used in two studies each. The outcome measures included purchases/sales from vending machines in all except one study (n = 12, 92%) [13,14,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]28] (Table 2). Two studies (15%) also measured the acceptability of/satisfaction with the intervention [22,26], and one study (8%) also measured dietary behavior change [22].…”

“…The outcome measures included purchases/sales from vending machines in all except one study (n = 12, 92%) [13,14,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]28] (Table 2). Two studies (15%) also measured the acceptability of/satisfaction with the intervention [22,26], and one study (8%) also measured dietary behavior change [22]. The outcome measure of the remaining study was the change in food/drinks available within vending machines [27].…”

“…In seven studies (3 RCTs, 3 pre-post tests, 1 non-randomized controlled trial), interventions involved a combination of two or more strategies [13,14,20,[22][23][24][25]. Of these, four studies (57%) reported positive change in outcomes [13,14,20,23].…”