The King County Board of Health today unanimously approved guidelines encouraging organizations in King County to provide healthier choices in vending machines.
Vending machines offer quick food for people on the go or without accessible options nearby, but many currently offer very limited and unhealthy choices.
The voluntary King County Healthy Vending Guidelines support businesses, community-based organizations and local governments that want to offer more options and healthier food and beverages. Guidelines and recommendations are a new policy tool for the Board of Health to provide guidance and best practices to improve the health of the community.
“People want healthy options, but most vending machines don’t have them,” said Board of Health Member Julia Patterson, chair of the Healthy Eating, Active Living Subcommittee. “Making healthy options available in our worksites, youth programs, and other community settings will make it easier for people to reach for something other than the potato chips and sugary sodas.”
Obesity and poor nutrition are serious problems in King County. Over half of adults and almost a third of youth are overweight or obese. Additionally, less than one third of adults and youth report consuming enough fruits and vegetables daily, and a third of youth report consuming one or more sodas daily.
Lack of access to nutritious food when eating meals or snacks away from home makes it difficult for King County residents to make healthy choices.
Government and other organizations are already making the move toward healthier vending options. King County, through its Healthy Incentives program, offers 20 percent of healthier options in many of its vending machines. The Seattle Housing Authority is also working to implement healthy vending.
The Healthy Vending Guidelines present three categories of food and beverages: healthiest, healthier, and food and beverages that should be limited. Examples of food and beverages for all three categories are included, along with appropriate levels of calories, fat, sugar and sodium. The Healthy Vending Guidelines also outline best practices for implementing healthy vending and three approaches for creating a healthy vending policy.
The guidelines are based on the
Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010 and use food types (fruits, whole grains, etc.) rather than simply looking at calories, fat, sodium and sugar for identifying healthy options.
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