The Negative Impact of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages on Children’s Health. A Research Synthesis

Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) by adolescents and children in the United States has been linked to less healthy diets, excessive caloric intake and weight gain, increased obesity rates, and associated adverse health effects, including increased rates of type 2 diabetes in adults. This research synthesis reviews evidence regarding the health effects of SSB consumption, More

Examining the Effect of Providing Lower Income Black Adolescents with Caloric Information on their Sugar-Sweetened Beverage (SSB) Purchases

No prior interventions have focused exclusively on reducing purchases of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) in real-world settings among black adolescents. Providing easily understandable caloric information may be a low-cost, sustainable strategy for lowering overall caloric intake. In this study, investigators will examine the effects of a store-based, environmental intervention targeting black adolescents in Baltimore City which More

Studying Food and Marketing Industry Research Behind Digital Media Marketing to Children and Adolescents

As digital media become ever more present in children’s lives, public health researchers and policy-makers need to understand how the new marketing ecosystem infiltrates and influences consumers. Yet specialized, commercially-sponsored digital marketing research remains obscured from public view because much of it occurs outside the academy. This study will make highly accessible and visible an More

Studying the Effect of Beverage Taxes on Children’s Energy Intake and Tax Revenue

Health advocates have increasingly argued for taxes on calorically sweetened beverages. However, there is little empirical research that evaluates the public health and fiscal impacts of such taxes while simultaneously accounting for consumers’ and suppliers’ likely changes in economic behavior in response to a targeted tax. The aim of this study is to use econometric More

Examining How Increases in Earned Income Tax Credits, Food Prices and Neighborhood Context Affect Children’s BMI

The goal of this project is to examine how increases in family income generated by geographic- and time-varying changes in earned income tax credits (EITC) impact children’s body mass index, and how this effect may depend on their neighborhood food environment and regional food prices. Focusing on EITC-generated income changes amounts to a quasi-experimental research More

Adolescent Obesity: Towards Evidence-Based Policy and Environmental Solutions

The purpose of the supplement is to present recent findings from RWJF grantees funded under the Healthy Eating Research and Active Living Research programs, as well as from RWJF’s Bridging the Gap program and Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. Supplement content focuses primarily on adolescent obesity prevention and the need for More