title: Fat and sugar levels are high in snacks purchased from student stores in middle schools.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Children consume about one third of their daily energy at school, mostly from cafeteria food and bag lunches. Students also shop at student-run stores that generate revenue for extracurricular activities; yet the nutritional value of snacks sold at student stores has not been documented to our knowledge.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study of foods sold at student stores in middle schools.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-four San Diego County (Calif) public middle schools, grades 6 through 8 (age 11 to 13), from 9 school districts. The schools represent a diversity of ethnic groups and socioeconomic levels.
  
  
  METHODS
  Descriptive statistics, Pearson product moment correlations, analysis of variance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Snacks averaged 8.7 g fat and 23.0 g sugar. Overall, 88.5% of store inventory was high in fat and/or high in sugar. Sugar candy accounted for one third of store sales. Chocolate candy was highest in fat content: 15.7 g. Fourteen of the 24 schools had stores that sold food and were run by student organizations. Stores were open daily for about 90 minutes; half sold food during lunch.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Adolescents need opportunities to supplement main meals; however, student stores in middle schools sell primarily high-fat, high-sugar snacks. Key intervention possibilities include limiting sales of chocolate candy and substituting low-fat varieties of cakes, cookies, chips, and crackers. Competition with cafeterias for sales at lunchtime should be addressed.
authors.affiliation: San Diego State University, CA 92123, USA.
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Wildey
authors.forename: S Z
authors.initials: SZ
authors.lastname: Pampalone
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Pelletier
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Zive
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Elder
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Sallis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002140:California; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D005522:Food Services / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009753:Nutritive Value; D012574:Schools
chemical_list: D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates; D004041:Dietary Fats