Christchurch's new women's hospital has opted not to install soft-drink dispensers, and other hospitals may follow its lead. Why are vending machines falling from favour? This report is on what a quick snack fix might be doing to your body……

Dispensers selling everything from fruit juices to chips and chocolate bars used to be the best friend of busy workers looking for a quick sugar fix. Now they are being seen as public enemy No. 1.

Health promoters say the machines are stacked with foods that are sugary, high in fat and calorie-laden, contributing to the epidemic of obesity. Row after row of fizzy drinks is filled with stimulants and sugar.

Buying such foods, without getting a chance to read the packaging, means the calorie content may not always be obvious. Take a giant Cookie Time chocolate chip biscuit, for instance. They are a popular and tasty way to satisfy mid- afternoon sugar cravings. But a nutrition expert has worked out that one 92g biscuit is the calorie equivalent of 4½ Mallowpuffs, or five ToffeePops, or 11 Krispie biscuits or 6½ apples.

Last month the Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) announced that its new women's hospital would have no soft-drink vending machines.

Dental health staffs, which see the teeth-rotting effects of sugary drinks daily, have applauded the move. So have the Diabetes Society and the National Heart Foundation, which is encouraging children to drink water or milk with school lunches.

Community and Public Health promoter Bronwen King says vending-machine foods are usually high in sugar, fat and salt. Packaged foods that last longer are obvious choices for the vendor to use over fresh food, which is more difficult to keep in machines.

King says snacks high in sugar, fat and salt are neither sustaining as a meal choice nor energising.

Options such as crackers, cheese, yoghurt, soups, pasta mixes, dried fruit and nuts, or tins of tuna all have a shelf life and ease of presentation required to make them suitable vending-machine options.

Water takes up only about one-eighth of the drinks section in most machines. Fruit juices are healthier choices than soft drinks, but still high in sugar. They are treat drinks, to be consumed occasionally, not every day.

Energy drinks, such as V, are loaded with stimulants like caffeine, guarana and taurine.

Soft drinks have a high sugar count – 600ml of Fanta has 20 teaspoons of sugar, while the same volume of Coke has 16 teaspoons. A can of V has seven teaspoons of sugar and 600ml of Powerade has nine teaspoons. Diet Coke contains less sugar but it does have caffeine.

Although some varieties of chips appear to be healthy, like Health Plus and Grain Waves, it is often just the type of fat that is different, not the amount, so the energy value is the same as other varieties.

Health Plus chips claim to have "sea salt", which is not a healthier option. The latest child nutrition survey showed many New Zealand children had symptoms of iodine deficiency. For this reason, any salt used should be iodised.

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