HealthTree Blog

According to a report that will release on Monday from Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo Inc., and other companies for beverages, students in secondary schools are drinking less high calorie drinks from vending machines. Apparently, this consumption has decreased as much as 72 percent with a 95 percent decrease in sodas and a 94 percent decrease in juice.

The Reasons Behind Falling Sales of High Calorie Drinks in Schools

Let’s consider some of the reasons why students are drinking less soda and juice while in school.

Just because the sales of these drinks are declining in school, it does not mean that they are not drinking it at home. It also doesn’t mean that they aren’t bringing it to school in their lunch bag. It just means that they are not purchasing them (purchasing and consuming are two entirely different things).

So what we need to speculate is why students are not buying these drinks in school as much anymore. Here are some of my reasons why I think there is a decline:

• Vending machine prices have increased since the 2004-05 school year that these companies are comparing to the current year. A soda used to cost maybe a dollar back then and now they are as much as a 1.50.
• The recession hit many homes and many parents don’t have the extra cash to give to their children so that they can purchase extras in the school cafeteria.
• In a world of card carriers, many parents also don’t have cash for their children to take to school because they usually carry credit/debit cards.
• Cafeterias aren’t like they used to be back in the day. Now there are more foods to choose from and some even have fast food chains in them like Taco Bell or Pizza Hut. Students may be spending their extra money on those foods rather than a soda or juice.
• It’s true that even students are starting to pay better attention to their health. With the high incidence of obesity among teens, more of them are trying to cut back on sodas and juice.

What are some of your ideas on why there has been a decline in soda/juice vending machine purchases in secondary schools?

Photo: Qfamily