title: Students' perspectives on promoting healthful food choices from campus vending machines: a qualitative interview study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Increasing the healthfulness of campus food environments is an important step in promoting healthful food choices among college students. This study explored university students' suggestions on promoting healthful food choices from campus vending machines. It also examined factors influencing students' food choices from vending machines.
  
  
  METHODS
  Peer-led semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with 43 undergraduate students (33 females and 10 males) recruited from students enrolled in an introductory nutrition course in a large national university in the United Arab Emirates. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and coded to generate themes using N-Vivo software.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Accessibility, peer influence, and busy schedules were the main factors influencing students' food choices from campus vending machines. Participants expressed the need to improve the nutritional quality of the food items sold in the campus vending machines. Recommendations for students' nutrition educational activities included placing nutrition tips on or beside the vending machines and using active learning methods, such as competitions on nutrition knowledge.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this study have useful applications in improving the campus food environment and nutrition education opportunities at the university to assist students in making healthful food choices.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Health, College of Food and Agriculture, United Arab Emirates University, PO Box 15551, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. habAli@uaeu.ac.ae.
authors.forename: Habiba I
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Health, College of Food and Agriculture, United Arab Emirates University, PO Box 15551, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. amjadj@uaeu.ac.ae.
authors.forename: Amjad H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Jarrar
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Health, College of Food and Agriculture, United Arab Emirates University, PO Box 15551, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. mostafa_enen@yahoo.com.|Faculty of Tourism & Hotels, Hotels Department, University of Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt. mostafa_enen@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Mostafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abo-El-Enen
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Health, College of Food and Agriculture, United Arab Emirates University, PO Box 15551, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. mariam.h.alshamisi@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mariam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Al Shamsi
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Health, College of Food and Agriculture, United Arab Emirates University, PO Box 15551, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. huda.f.a@live.com.
authors.forename: Huda
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Al Ashqar
mesh_terms: D002755:Choice Behavior; D003132:Commerce; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D005509:Food Dispensers, Automatic; D005518:Food Preferences; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009753:Nutritive Value; D010379:Peer Group; D036301:Qualitative Research; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D014479:United Arab Emirates; D014495:Universities