Obesity Metaphors: How Beliefs About the Causes of Obesity Affect Support for Public Policy

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

Determining the Efficacy and Effectiveness of a State-Sponsored Intervention Promoting Physical Activity and Nutrition in the Early Child Care Setting

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

Evaluating the New York City Calorie Labeling Regulation

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

Studying the Relationship Between Perceived and Objective Food Environments, Dietary Intake and Weight Status in Latino Families

This study will examine associations between neighborhood food environments, dietary intake and weight status among Latino families with preschool-age children. The specific aims of this work are to: (a) identify individual, familial and environmental predictors of perceived neighborhood food environments among Latino parents, (b) examine the association between parents’ neighborhood perceptions and children’s dietary intake More

Analyzing the Financial Impact of Selling Healthy Versus Unhealthy Foods on a Small Store in a Low-Income Neighborhood

To better understand how to improve healthy food access in low-income neighborhoods, the aim of this study is to examine financial incentives around selling specific types of food. Specifically, this research will: (a) analyze the financial benefits of selling healthy and unhealthy food items from the perspective of a small food store business in a More