NASHVILLE, Tenn. - It's a move in a healthier direction and a mid-state high school and hospital are taking steps to help fight diseases like obesity and diabetes by using vending machines with only healthy options.
The fast pace of a high school can be compared to the lives of many people.
So many times grabbing something quick, like at a vending machine is easy, but not always a healthy option, until now.
"So we changed our vending completely and took out all the unhealthy food all over the building and we now only have healthy snacks and beverages only," said Martin Luther King, Jr. Magnet High School, MLK, executive principal, Schunn Turner.
To help in the fight against the growing number of teens with diabetes and high blood pressure MLK is the first metro Nashville school to change all its vending machines to healthier choices.
"At first I was kind of disappointed, but once I saw them and tasted them I was like, 'oh they're not that bad," said freshman Cameron Jackson.
Dr. Kevin Niswender with Vanderbilt Medical Center says the number of obese Tennesseans is going down-- but there is a lot of work to be done and these healthier choices vending machines are a start.
"The idea is not to eliminate all choice, but to make healthier options available as people become more aware of the health issues and want to make changes in their diet and daily life," said Dr. Niswender.
At Vanderbilt Medical Center it was truly all about providing healthier choices the employees as well as visitors. While 100% of the machines will not have 100% healthy choices available, all machines will have healthy options that are clearly marked."
Vanderbilt Medical Center employee Demoyne Culpepper says she was obese her entire adult life; that was until she lost 60 pound weight loss during the past 18 months.
She says keeping that weight off is a lot easier when your choices are not just chips and chocolate.
"If I go to the snack machine and there is chocolate there and a healthy snack, I am going to choose the healthy snack."
Staying healthy is something talked about in schools and hospitals and now living the lessons learned have become a little bit easier with healthier options readily available.
While MLK High School has 100% of its vending machines stored with healthy choices, Vanderbilt's Medical Center plans to have 35% of its vending machines offering only healthy options and 50% by the end of 2013.
