This study assessed the nutritional quality of snacks and beverages sold in vending machines. The contents of snack and beverage vending machines in 78 buildings on 11 US post-secondary education campuses were surveyed. Of the 2607 snack machine slots surveyed, the most common snacks vended were salty snacks (e.g., chips, pretzels) and sweets (i.e., candy and candy bars). The 1650 beverage machine slots assessed contained twice as many sugar-sweetened beverages as non-calorie-containing beverages. Only two institutions sold both milk and 100% juice in vending machines. The portion of snacks and beverages sold averaged more than 200 cal. Neither snacks nor beverages were nutrient dense. The majority of snacks were low in fiber and high in calories and fat and almost half were high in sugar. Most beverages were high in calories and sugar. This study's findings suggest that vending machines provide limited healthful choices. Findings from benchmark assessments of components of the food environment, like the vending options reported here, can provide valuable input to campus administrators, health services, food service, and students who want to establish campus policies to promote healthful eating.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 4. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 01 January 2026.
All research outputs
#11,215,972
of 33,082,196 outputs
Outputs from Appetite
#3,067
of 5,461 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#70,405
of 196,396 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Appetite
#39
of 61 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 33,082,196 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 65th percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 5,461 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 26.1. This one is in the 43rd percentile – i.e., 43% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 196,396 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 62% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 61 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 36th percentile – i.e., 36% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
