Healthy Eating Research

Building Evidence to
Prevent Childhood Obesity

A Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program
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Building Evidence to
Prevent Childhood Obesity

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A Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program

The Cost-Effectiveness of Interventions for Reducing Obesity among Young Children

Using research conducted by the Childhood Obesity Intervention Cost-Effectiveness Study (CHOICES) at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, this brief provides an overview of the goals of cost-effectiveness analysis, the evidence thus far on the cost-effectiveness of different strategies to prevent obesity in the places where very young children live, learn, and play, and the evidence that is still needed for informed decision-making.

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State Policies on Testing Drinking Water for Lead in U.S. Schools

Reports of lead contamination have emerged in schools and communities across the country. The focus on this issue is deserved: even at low levels, lead exposure is harmful, especially for young children. A new report from the Prevention Research Center on Nutrition and Physical Activity at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Nutrition Policy Institute at the University of California examines states’ approaches to testing school drinking water for lead and finds notable variation in states’ efforts.

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Better for You Foods: A Guide to Evaluating the Quality of Nutrition Standards

Retailers and other organizations use a variety of nutrition standards and recommendations to identify healthier, or “Better-For-You” foods. Healthy Eating Research convened a scientific advisory committee to review existing “Better-For-You” nutrition standards, and analyze their strengths and weaknesses.

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A National Research Agenda on Beverage Consumption Among 0- to 5-Year-Olds

The goal of this national research agenda is to outline research gaps and opportunities for researchers, foundations, and practitioners to pursue in order to reduce sugary drink consumption and increase safe water access and consumption among 0- to 5-year-olds.

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New Videos for Parents on Infant and Toddler Feeding

Partnering with HER and building on the recent report, Feeding Guidelines for Infants and Young Toddlers: A Responsive Parenting Approach, 1,000 Days has launched a series of bite-sized videos on one of the biggest questions parents have: how to introduce solid foods.

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Early Care and Education Policies and Programs to Support Healthy Eating and Physical Activity: Best Practices and Changes Over Time.

Over the last six years, efforts to strengthen policies, systems, and environments to promote health and prevent obesity have become more robust and widespread. These efforts include updates to federal policies and programs, state regulations, local policies, and evidence-based guidance. The goal of the current research review is to provide the most up-to-date information on the impact of these changes in policies, systems, and environments aimed at promoting a healthy diet, increasing physical activity, and reducing screen time in young children in the ECE setting.

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Learn about the childhood
obesity epidemic

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

See all

April 2019

Parental and Provider Perceptions of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Interventions in the First 1,000 Days: A Qualitative Study

Novel approaches to reduce sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption during the first 1,000 days – pregnancy through age 2 years – are urgently needed. This study examined perceptions of SSB consumption and acceptability of potential intervention strategies to promote SSB avoidance in low income families in the first 1,000 days. Themes … More

March 2019

The Cost-Effectiveness of Interventions for Reducing Obesity among Young Children through Healthy Eating, Physical Activity, and Screen Time

Early childhood is an important period for interventions to prevent obesity, before poor diet and physical activity behaviors become entrenched and related chronic diseases develop. To date there are still few programs that have been evaluated using experimental study designs that demonstrate impacts on young children’s weight. As a result, … More

January 2019

Evaluation of the USDA FINI Program Finds Benefits for Consumers, Farmers and Retailers, and Local Economies

In December 2018, Congress passed a new farm bill which included a reauthorization of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) Grant Program. This brief summarizes the findings of a recent qualitative evaluation of FINI, which concludes that the program has benefits for consumers, farmers and … More

January 2019

State Policies on Testing Drinking Water for Lead in U.S. Schools

This Brief summarizes select characteristics of state-level policies and programs to test for lead in school drinking water. It is based on a study from researchers at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and the University of California Nutrition Policy Institute. The full results of the study, … More

Fast Fact

12 million

kids under 5 spend time in early care and education settings

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