Perception about the Effectiveness of Different Vending Machine Interventions to Promote Healthier Snack Selection among College Students

"Objective:" Evaluate college students' perception of the effectiveness of different vending machine (VM) interventions for improving snack selection. "Participants:" A total of 194 college students with the age of =18 years. "Method:" A cross-sectional survey among a purposive sampling near VM. "Results:" Most students use VM frequently or occasionally (63.4%). The intervention perceived as most helpful for choosing healthier snacks was labeling (on or near) which snack is healthy (score 3.83/5) followed by lowering the price of healthy options (score 3.33/5), while the least helpful was having posters nearby explaining which snacks are healthier (2.35/5). Participants suggested including snacks high in protein (58.8%) and low in sugar (56.2%). Most would like to see more healthy options in VM (83.5%) and will purchase them if available (67%). "Conclusions:" Lowering the price for healthy snacks and including labels to indicate which are healthy may be the interventions to test for improving snack intake among college students.