Healthy snack availability at a large Hispanic-serving university in South Florida.

Abstract

Objective: To audit the snack food environment and evaluate the availability of healthy items campus-wide, investigating high-traffic areas and the ways in which the placement and content of snack outlets may vary across different building types and distance to other food sources. Participants: All snack food vending machines (VM) and convenience stores (CS). Methods: A cross-sectional snack food audit was conducted between June 2019 and January 2022. VMs and CS were rated on the availability and healthfulness of foods and beverages. Frequency and distributions of snacks, healthy snacks, VM scores, building types, enrolled students, and distance to food were analyzed and differences were evaluated. Results: The campus-wide offerings of unhealthy foods in VM ranged from 84-92%, with clusters of buildings with fewer than five healthy items. CS ranked among the least healthy. Conclusions: The snack environment at this large Hispanic-serving university contains predominantly very unhealthy choices. A policy on snack foods is needed to promote healthy eating habits and prevent obesity.