Objective: The objective of this study was to examine body mass index (BMI) changes in adolescents after the removal of vending machines from their respective high schools. Method: Participants included 1800 high school students from Harrisburg School District, located in a small urban city in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Students’ BMI was measured from 2004 through 2007 and the vending machines ...

BACKGROUND Little has been done to ensure that the foods sold within health care facilities promote healthy lifestyles. Policies to improve school nutrition environments can serve as models for health care organizations. OBJECTIVE This study was designed to assess the healthfulness of foods sold in health care facility vending machines as well as how health care organizations are using polici...

Junk food consumption is associated with rising obesity rates in the United States. While a "junk food" specific tax is a potential public health intervention, a majority of states already impose sales taxes on certain junk food and soft drinks. This study reviews the state sales tax variance for soft drinks and selected snack products sold through grocery stores and vending machines as of Janu...

Many subgroups in today’s society are not skilled in using novel technologies. Even everyday technologies pose a barrier to technically nonskilled people and – if they fail to use them – exclude them from important parts of daily life. In this paper we discuss the relevance of self-efficacy for the use of one specific kind of everyday technology: the ticket vending machine. Results from observa...