One in three high school cafeterias still sells junk foods, according to new data from the Center for Disease Control. However, this statistic represents progress. In 2004, 53 percent were selling candy and high fat, salty snacks; in 2006, the rate was 37 percent.

Dr. Howell Wechsler, director of the CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health, said that schools are selling junk food because they need money. He admitted that food revenues drop during the first few years a school cafeteria substitutes healthy foods for the more popular but less nutritious ones. However, sales eventually climb, he said.

This study appears in the CDC Weekly Report on Morbidity and Mortality.

Labels: cafeterias, junk_food, schools