The kinds of foods that students can purchase at their public middle schools or high schools are far less healthy than the food available to children attending elementary schools, a new study suggests.
The researchers based their conclusion on a tally of the number of vending machines installed at 395 schools spread across 129 school districts in 38 states, as well as on a nutritional analysis of the kinds of foods stocked in the machines or offered up a la carte in school cafeterias and snack bars.
"The food environment changes as you move from elementary schools to high schools," said study author Daniel M. Finkelstein, a researcher with Mathematica Policy Research, in Cambridge, Mass. "And the main difference between the lower and higher grades was the greater availability of unhealthful foods and beverages for older students."
Source: Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/07/AR2008070700703.html
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