Healthy Eating Research

New Report and Special Issue on Retail Strategies to Support Healthy Eating

Healthy Eating Research (HER), Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and The Food Trust have developed the first national research agenda focused on healthy food retail. The research agenda report and accompanying special journal issue aim to bring attention to the importance of research and evaluation of retail strategies to improve public health.

Effect of a Home-Visiting Intervention to Reduce Early Childhood Obesity Among Native American Children

A Family Spirit Nurture home-visiting nutrition intervention had beneficial effects on beverage consumption, infant feeding practices, and BMI for Native American infants.

Strengthening WIC’s Impact During and After the COVID‑19 Pandemic

The USDA Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides critical nutrition assistance to lower-income women, infants, and young children. During the coronavirus pandemic, unemployment has risen and food insecurity has also increased, making WIC’s role more important than ever. This research brief focuses on how to strengthen WIC’s impact during and after COVID-19.

The Impact of Increasing SNAP Benefits on Stabilizing the Economy, Reducing Poverty and Food Insecurity amid COVID-19 Pandemic

New research brief provides evidence on the potential positive impact of a SNAP benefit increase on SNAP households and the economy.

Healthy Eating Research Nutrition Guidelines for the Charitable Food System

Healthy Eating Research has released a comprehensive set of evidence-based guidelines in partnership with Feeding America to help the charitable food system improve the nutritional quality of items provided to individuals and families.

Rapid Health Impact Assessment on USDA Proposed Changes to School Nutrition Standards

RWJF and Healthy Eating Research have released a Health Impact Assessment on USDA’s proposed changes to school nutrition standards. The analysis finds that the changes could have a detrimental impact on students’ health and academic performance and increase food insecurity.

Learn About What We Fund

New Recommendations!

Research shows that what children drink from birth through age five has a big impact on their health - both now and for years to come. The nation's leading health organizations agree that for most kids, the following Recommendations can help to set children on a path for healthy growth and development.

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Focus Areas

Beverages

Diet Quality

Early Childhood

Food Access

Food & Beverage Marketing

Food Retail

Healthy Weight

Nutrition & Agriculture Policy and Programs

Pricing & Economics

School & After School

Research & Publications

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June 2021

7 Key Findings on The Benefits of Healthy School Meals for All

Schools play a vital role in promoting children’s health and well-being. In the United States, schools contribute significantly to children’s overall diet quality and can provide up to half of their daily calories, especially among children from low-income families. Providing healthy school meals for all is a policy opportunity to … More

School & After School

June 2021

SNAP Waivers and Adaptations During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Survey of State Agency Perspectives in 2020

This research seeks to understand perspectives from state SNAP administrators on the successes, challenges, and lessons learned from waivers and flexibilities used to preserve equitable access to SNAP during the COVID-19 pandemic. This report synthesizes results from an online survey of state SNAP administrators conducted between December 14, 2020, and … More

Nutrition & Agriculture Policy and Programs

May 2021

Strengthening the Impact of USDA’s Child Nutrition Summer Feeding Programs During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

To address food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic, utilization of the USDA child nutrition summer feeding programs has drastically increased. Given the unprecedented use of the summer feeding programs, this research brief will (1) explain the meal pattern requirements and select operational differences between the summer feeding programs and the … More

April 2021

Examining the Effects of Taxes and Warning Labels on Parents’ Purchases of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Using a Choice Experiment

The purpose of this study is to conduct a discrete choice experiment to investigate whether warning labels on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages (SSBs) alter the effectiveness of a tax on SSBs, especially among parents who are Black, Latinx and lower income. The research team will conduct an online choice experiment with 2,700 … More