Currently, American children consume 30 percent of their calories from foods high in calories but low in nutrients, such as snack-type foods and beverages. Two-thirds of that total is from sugars. At the same time, rates of obesity are rising among children, and, according to some research, many are also facing deficiencies in micronutrients.

That’s the prime reason why Ohio State University Extension is working with Columbus Children's Hospital, which received a $54,000 grant from the Columbus Foundation to pilot the Snackwise Nutrition Rating System program. Snackwise is designed to rate the nutritional value of foods offered in vending machines. Based on a rating of 10 nutritional components, a food would get a "green" rating for "Best Choice," a yellow rating for "Choose Occasionally," or a red rating for "Choose Rarely."

Jaime Ackerman, program specialist with Ohio State University Extension, studied the Snackwise system as part of her master’s degree program in public health, and is working with Children’s and county Extension educators to coordinate efforts of participating schools in the Snackwise pilot program.

The primary goal is to help students choose healthier snacks than they otherwise would during the school day. Researchers also want to know if informational fliers posted at vending machines influence students’ nutritional knowledge and behavior, and if the revenue from the vending machines changes when a greater proportion of higher-quality snacks is offered for sale. Vending sales are often an important part of a school’s budget, and many schools are hesitant to make changes that might reduce sales, Ackerman said.

"In September, we’ll be going into middle and high schools and look at what they have in the vending machines," Ackerman said. "At each school, we’ll get information on sales of items over a five-day period.  Then, in half of the schools, we’ll switch to offering a higher percentage of healthier foods and post the Snackwise ratings of the foods on each vending machine."

In the pilot program, the healthier foods will be offered in the vending machines for six weeks, and then researchers will gather sales information for another five-day period. They will also collect sales data on a monthly basis.

"In the spring, we’ll go into the schools that had the Snackwise information posted and ask students if it influenced their choices," Ackerman said.

Ackerman has high hopes for the study. For her master's project, she helped analyze foods offered in vending machines at Columbus Children’s Hospital, giving them the red, yellow or green ratings. "There weren’t very many green ratings," she said.

She also conducted surveys of patients, visitors and staff about why they purchased vending machine items. Most of the time, hunger wasn’t a consideration. "Most children hated coming to the hospital, so they were often given something from the vending machine as a treat," Ackerman said.

Ackerman added that vending machine companies have been extremely cooperative in the effort. "They understand the situation, and they know they have to do something," she said.

The Snackwise Nutrition Rating System is offered by Children’s Borden Center for Nutrition and Wellness. Its software contains ratings for the 100 most popular vending machine products, and users can input Nutrition Facts information to get ratings for other snack foods. The system evaluates a food’s calories, fat, saturated fat, sugar, protein, calcium, fiber, iron, vitamin A and vitamin C to produce the rating.

Ackerman said foods with a green rating include yogurt, some fruit rolls or fruit snacks, and many types of breakfast bars.

Counties with schools involved in the pilot project are Cuyahoga, Fayette, Franklin, Huron, Licking, Lorain, Montgomery, Ottawa, Preble, Ross, Sandusky, Trumbull, Tuscarawas, Washington and Wood.

For more information on the project, contact Ackerman at ackerman.40@osu.edu or (614) 292-3538. In addition, Columbus Children’s Hospital has information about the Snackwise system online. Go to http://www.columbuschildrens.org/ and search for "Snackwise."