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

Local School Wellness Policies: How Are Schools Implementing the Congressional Mandate? A Research Brief

The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 mandated that school districts participating in any federally reimbursed school meal programs develop a local school wellness policy by the beginning of the 2006-07 school year. This brief, published by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, summarizes key results from early research on the implementation of these More

Off the Map: Extracurricular School Food: Open Campus Lunch

This brief discusses open-campus and off-campus lunch policies, which allow high school students to go outside school boundaries to buy and eat food during their lunch breaks. The document addresses how such policies are established, nutritional implications, racial and socioeconomic considerations, safety issues and effect on on-campus and local businesses. From this discussion, readers can More