“Availability of Less Nutritious Snack Foods and Beverages in Secondary Schools: Selected states, 2002 – 2008”

Foods and beverages offered in schools outside of U.S. Department of Agriculture school meal programs are not subject to federal nutrition standards and generally are of lower nutritional quality than those served in the meal programs. To estimate changes in the percentage of schools in which students could not purchase less nutritious foods and beverages, CDC analyzed 2002–2008 survey data from its School Health Profiles for public secondary schools. This report, which summarizes the results of those analyses, finds that while the percentage of schools in which students could not purchase candy or soda increased overall, state-by-state data ranges widely.

Read the report.