Vending Machines and Cardiovascular Prevention: How to Implement Healthy Dietary Habits at School
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Vending Machines and Cardiovascular Prevention: How to Implement Healthy Dietary Habits at School Roberto Volpe1,2 · Sarah Marchant3 Received: 15 June 2020 / Accepted: 27 June 2020 © Italian Society of Hypertension 2020
Abstract Too many children in Europe are overweight. The unregulated marketing of unhealthy products target to children, and the installation of vending machines stocked with unhealthy snacks in public venues, are contributing factors. While innovative legislation on the regulation of the nutritional quality of food and beverages sold in vending machines in schools has become law in some European countries, it is not on the political agenda in others. However, an easy alternative solution could be to introduce a clause in all new tenders for vending machines, which states that the successful supplier must commit to ensuring that at least 50% of the products sold have a medium-to-small portion size, are low in saturated fat, salt, calories, and have no added sugar. This strategy, called “A vending machine for a friend”, was developed at CNR of Rome, and with the support of the SIPREC, the LHA and the EHN, and with the alliance with teachers and students, is being rolled out in some Italian and Lithuanian high schools. Creating a healthy nutritional environment with the aim of encouraging healthier choices, is a real possibility. Keywords Vending machines · Obesity · Adolescents The United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child states that every child has the right to grow up in a healthy environment [1]. However, children often grow up in “obesogenic environments”—settings that promote unhealthy eating and discourage physical activity [2]. In obesogenic environments, unhealthy foods are cheap and readily available, while healthier foods are less easy to find and are often expensive [3]. As a result, many children in Europe are overweight [4]. Obesity prevention is a global public health priority and if we do not act swiftly and with determination, the rate of decline in cardiovascular related events and death may start to rise again. We could see a reverse in the gains in life expectancy that have been achieved over the past decades in adult generations, in future generations [5]. Put simply, future generations are likely to have a shorter life expectancy
* Roberto Volpe [email protected] 1
National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Rome, Italy
2
Italian Society for Cardiovascular Prevention (SIPREC), Rome, Italy
3
UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti, Florence, Italy
than their parents. This scenario also poses issues of the economic sustainability of national health systems. This is particularly true for Italy, where the shift away from traditional diets and lifestyles; and easy access to cheap, unhealthy snacks has led to a prevalence of overweight and obesity which has reached 22% in boys and 9% in girls at age 15, one of the worst rates in Europe [6]. Moreover, in Italy, physical activity tends to decline during adolescence [4]. Although genetic
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