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
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
This research synthesis reviews studies that have examined the use of menu labeling in away-from-home food establishments, such as restaurants and cafeterias, and the potential impact of labeling on consumers’ food and beverage selections.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will implement a ground-breaking new policy by October 1, 2009 that adds a cash-value voucher for fruits and vegetables to the food packages provided in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (also known as WIC). This provides a rare opportunity to assess the effect of a More
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) approved calorie labeling for restaurant chains with 15 or more stores nationally as part of the city’s effort to combat obesity. This regulation requires that calories are posted on menu boards; it is intended to increase prominence of calorie information at point-of-purchase to help More
Using the Yale Rudd Center Public Opinion on Obesity Survey, this study examines how individuals’ demographic/health characteristics, political attitudes and beliefs about the causes of obesity affect their support for obesity-reduction policies. Included in the study were seven obesity metaphors; how much respondents’ agreed with or used these metaphors was strongly predictive of whether they More
This project seeks to determine the extent to which a successful state-sponsored program to improve the activity and nutrition environments of schools can be adapted successfully for child care centers. Investigators will evaluate the state-sponsored policy intervention that will begin in Montgomery County (Ohio) child care centers in April 2009. This natural experiment is timed More
In New York City, a new policy now being implemented mandates city-wide calorie labeling posted on the menu boards of all fast-food restaurants. In assessing this policy, this study has two specific aims: (1) to determine the influence of such calorie labeling on individual food choice and (2) to establish why this calorie labeling does More
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene approved a regulation that requires that calorie information be posted on menu boards for restaurant chains with 15 or more stores nationally. This regulation went into effect in 2008. The regulation is intended to increase prominence of calorie information at point-of-purchase to help consumers make More
Multnomah County passed a menu labeling policy that will go into effect January 1, 2009, as one of only five jurisdictions in the U.S. to have passed such a policy. The aims of this study are to: (1) examine changes in awareness of nutrition information, nutrition knowledge, use of nutrition information and caloric value of More
Newsletter
Contact
