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U.Va. MEDICAL CENTER TAKES BOLD STEP TOWARD HEALTHIER VENDING CHOICES

Stop. Proceed with caution. Before you feed that change into the vending machine for a late afternoon chocolate fix, think about the fat and calories you’re about to consume.

That’s the message at the University of Virginia Medical Center. The Healthy Vending Selections Project has been launched in an effort to help consumers make choices that promote overall health and weight management. Using a traffic signal motif, the vending machine selections will be marked as green, yellow and red. Green items are low in saturated fat, total fat and calories; yellow items have higher saturated fats, so should be eaten in moderation; and red items are highest in saturated fats, total fats and cvendingstopsign alories.

Through a partnership with Morrison Management Specialist, the food services provider for the Medical Center, the Healthy Vending effort is a year-long project that will include all Medical Center snack and soda machines.  At the end of the year, results will be assessed to determine the effectiveness of the project and to develop next steps.

“With one in three adults overweight, we have an extraordinary problem – one that could consume us,” said Dr. Arthur Garson, Jr., dean of the U.Va.  medical school and creator of the vending project. “Obesity is linked to diabetes heart disease, stroke and depression – to name a few. We are acting as doctors and healthcare

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providers in partnership with our patients – and future patients, by educating them about healthier choices. We must do something; this is a start.”

Guidelines for the project, which were developed by the Medical Center’s clinical dieticians, were based on information from various sources, including the United States Department of Agriculture and the American Dietetics Association. As an added incentive to the color coding, red items will include a surcharge of $.05 with proceeds going to the U.Va. Children’s Fitness Center, a multi-disciplinary clinic that helps children to reach a healthy weight.

“This color-coding system will be a guide for vending machine customers to know what the better choices are,” said Lynda Fanning, clinical nutrition manager at the Medical Center. “It will help them to watch their weight as well as benefit overall health.”

May 7, 2004