Age Group: Elementary-age children (grades K to 5)

SNAP to Health: Analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) to Assess the Nutrition of Youth, Ages 4-19, Participating in SNAP

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Given the significant reach and service the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food assistance program has for lower-income populations most vulnerable to food insecurity and poor nutrition, there is an urgent need to obtain data about the nutrition of children who participate in SNAP to determine what foods are being consumed. This analysis was designed More

Analysis of Relationship Between Brand Advertising and Most Loved Brands by Kids

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According to a 2008 Federal Trade Commission report, overall expenditures to promote foods and beverages to children and adolescents in the United States were more than $1.6 billion annually. Studies indicate that exposure to food advertising influences children’s attitudes, preferences, and food purchase requests toward foods with low nutritional value. It is therefore important for More

Nutritional and Monetary Impact Analysis of Replacing Whole Milk and Fruit Juice in the Diets of Children in the United States

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Dietary guidance and nutrition policies have moved toward recommending whole fruit over juice and low- or non-fat milk over whole milk and flavored milk. However, little is known about the potential for these changes to reduce total energy intake in the diets of children. This project explored and quantified the nutritional impact, in terms of More

Food and Beverage Marketing to Children and Adolescents: An Environment at Odds with Good Health? A Research Synthesis

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Children in the United States grow up in environments saturated by food and beverage marketing, the bulk of it for foods low in nutrients and high in calories, sugars, salt and fat. Food and beverage companies reach children and adolescents using integrated marketing communications strategies, which encompass all forms of communication about products and services. More

Food Marketing in the Digital Age: A Conceptual Framework and Agenda for Research

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This report provides a brief summary of how digital marketing works and the role it plays in promoting unhealthy food and beverages to children. Detailed in the report are key concepts of digital marketing; implications for young people’s health; challenges digital marketing concepts raise for researchers; and relevant theoretical models for understanding how the new More

Child and Adolescent Fast-Food Choice and the Influence of Calorie Labeling: A Natural Experiment

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This article examines children’s and adolescents’ fast-food choices and the influence of calorie labels on adolescent and parent food choice in lower-income communities in New York City (NYC) and Newark, New Jersey (comparison city) before and after mandatory menu labeling began in NYC. Researchers found no statistically significant differences in calories purchased before and after More

Healthy Food Purchasing Among African American Youth: Associations with Child Gender, Adult Caregiver Characteristics and the Home Food Environment

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This article discusses how the home food environment and caregiver and youth characteristics are associated with healthy food purchasing among lower-income African-American youth. Researchers found that intentions to eat healthier, caregivers’ attitude towards healthy eating and more frequent food preparation by family members were each significantly associated with higher frequency of purchasing healthy foods among More

Understanding the Rural Food Environment–Perspectives of Low-Income Parents

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This article focuses on the food environment and food shopping habits of lower-income residents in rural Maine. Focus groups were conducted with lower-income parents of children enrolled in Medicaid/State Children’s Health Insurance Program in Maine to ask them about their food shopping habits, the barriers they faced when trying to obtain food, places where they More

Exploring Ways to Strengthen the Federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to Improve Nutrition for Low-Income Children

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The objective of this research is to conduct a comprehensive survey of stakeholder groups to identify barriers and opportunities for improving nutrition in the Federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The survey will be designed with input from key informant interviews and distributed to over 500 key stakeholders involved with SNAP and other food assistance More

Adequate (or Adipose?) Yearly Progress: Assessing the Effect of No Child Left Behind on Children’s Obesity. Working Paper 16873

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This paper discusses how accountability pressures for schools to improve test score outcomes implemented under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) may affect children’s obesity. Using a unique dataset of Arkansas schools that merged school-level information on test scores, obesity, and other demographic information, researchers found that NCLB accountability rules may have unintended negative consequences for More