Healthy Eating Research

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.

The Associations Between Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption and Children’s Health: An Updated Review of the Literature

This research review and companion issue brief are based on a systematic literature review that provides the most up to date evidence on the effects of consuming sugary drinks on children’s overweight/obesity, diabetes, dental caries, caffeine-related effects, and beverage substitution.

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.

Getting Children to Eat a Variety of Healthy Foods Starts Early in Life

Early life is an important time to promote the acceptance of healthier foods. The evidence from this review can be used to help caregivers and practitioners promote the development of healthy food preferences early in life, as well as to inform the development of policies and practices that support healthy eating in a variety of settings where young children spend time.

Stress in Early Life and Childhood Obesity Risk

The association between stress in early life and obesity and overweight in adulthood is well established. There is also increasing evidence of a link between stress exposure in childhood (or in utero) and child and adolescent obesity. This research review summarizes and provides examples from the scientific literature on the association between early life stress exposure and childhood obesity risk.

Learn about the childhood
obesity epidemic

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March 2016

The Impact of the First 1,000 Days on Childhood Obesity

The first 1,000 days, or the period from conception through age 2, is increasingly recognized as a critical period for the development of childhood obesity and its adverse consequences. This issue brief is based on two review papers that examined evidence on risk factors for developing childhood obesity and interventions … More

February 2016

Minimum Stocking Levels and Marketing Strategies of Healthful Foods for Small Retail Food Stores

The healthfulness of foods and beverages found in retail food stores differs widely across the United States, both by location of the store as well as by store type. Some communities have limited access to stores that carry healthful staple foods such as fruits and vegetables, whole grain-rich foods, and … More

January 2016

The Influence of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Health Warning Labels on Parents’ Choices

U.S. states have introduced bills requiring sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) to display health warning labels. This study examined how warning labels influence parents and which labels are most effective. Over 2,000 demographically and educationally diverse parents of children ages 6 to 11 participated in an online survey. Parents were randomized to … More

Beverages

April 2015

Alignment of Children’s Food Advertising With Proposed Federal Guidelines

Children and adolescents see between 4,500 and 6,000 food ads on TV each year, the majority of which are for products high in sugar and fat and low in essential nutrients. In April 2011, a coalition of federal authorities known as the Interagency Working Group on Foods Marketed to Children … More

Food & Beverage Marketing