City of Fort Collins, UC Health team to make healthy food choices the easy choice
| For immediate release: Dec. 3, 2012 |
Contact:
Nicole Caputo, 970.237.7112, nkm4@pvhs.org
|
City of Fort Collins, UC Health team to make healthy food choices the easy choice
|
Healthy vending tips
- Nutrient-dense snacks of whole grains, low-fat dairy, lean proteins, vegetables or fruit keep your body and mind fueled throughout the day.
- Calories from sugary snacks are quickly used up by the body, leaving you with an energy crash and feeling hungry.
- Pair fruit juice and a protein bar for a high-energy afternoon snack.
- Grab a low-fat yogurt smoothie and whole grain granola bar for a healthy morning boost.
|
Next time you hit up a City of Fort Collins vending machine for your afternoon snack, you may be surprised.
The City of Fort Collins and University of Colorado Health have teamed to provide healthy choices in beverage and snack vending machines at City recreation facilities and administration buildings.
The 100 percent healthy vending machines will be installed and ready for use this week.
The beverage machines will include water, unsweetened tea, low-fat milk or soymilk, real fruit juice, flavored water and sports drinks. The guidelines for beverages are not to exceed 150 calories per container nor 250 mg of sodium.
The snack machine guidelines include snacks with a maximum of 250 calories per container, with a maximum of 35 percent of calories from fat. Sugars cannot exceed 20g and sodium will not exceed 250 mg.
According to Brian Wansink, Ph.D., Author of "Mindless Eating," the average person makes over 200 decisions about food every day. By providing increased access to affordable, nutritious foods in vending machines, the healthy choice will now be the easy choice.
The Coalition for Activity and Nutrition to Defeat Obesity (CanDo), a program of University of Colorado Health, provided the City with nutritional expertise and data to support the initiative.
"CanDo is excited to collaborate with and support the City's healthy vending initiative. We share the common goal to make our community a model for healthy living," said Bobbie Puckett, R.D., CanDo community health educator.
"We want to encourage healthy living through exercise and eating habits; healthy vending was a natural step in that direction," said Bob Adams, Recreation Director for the City of Fort Collins.
Healthy vending initiative contacts:
Bobbie Puckett, 970.495.7523, bep2@pvhs.org
Bob Adams, 970.221.6354, badams@fcgov.com
--University of Colorado Health--
