Menu Labeling Regulations and Calories Purchased at Chain Restaurants

This article evaluates the impact of a menu labeling regulation in King County, Wash., on calories purchased and awareness and use of labels six and 18 months after implementation. Like prior studies, researchers found no significant changes in calories purchased six months after implementation, but found a modest decrease in the calories purchased after 18 More

Food Marketing to Children on U.S. Spanish-Language Television

This paper analyzes food and beverage advertising on Spanish-language children’s television compared with advertising found on English-language programs. Researchers found that although the amount of food advertising was lower on Spanish-language channels than on English-language programs, the nutritional quality of foods advertised on Spanish-language channels was substantially poorer than on English-language channels. More than 84 More

Using Rewards-Based Incentives to Increase Purchase of Fruit and Vegetables in Lower-Income Households: Design and Start-Up of a Randomized Trial

This paper reports the design and baseline results of a rewards-based incentive program–the Frequent Buyer Rewards Study–in a large full-service supermarket located in a predominately minority community in Philadelphia, Penn. The Frequent Buyer Rewards Study is a four-phase randomized trial designed to increase the purchase of fruits and vegetables in lower-income households. Baseline data indicates More

A Review of Snacking Patterns Among Children and Adolescents: What are the Implications of Snacking for Weight Status?

Given the growing contributions of snacks to dietary intake and the need for effective strategies to reduce and prevent obesity, it is important to consider whether snacking behaviors are associated with high body mass index (BMI) in childhood. This review summarizes U.S. research that has examined trends in snacking behaviors and its contributions to dietary More

Expert and Stakeholder Consensus on Priorities for Obesity Prevention Research in Early Care and Education Settings

Early care and education (ECE) programs are important settings for obesity prevention, but limited research provides insufficient evidence upon which to base policy decisions, practice guidelines, or mobilized efforts to improve healthy eating and physical activity in these settings. In September 2011, a multidisciplinary group of experts met to identify and prioritize research directions for More

It’s Not Just for Teens: Viral Marketing to Young Children

This legal issue brief focuses on “viral” or “word-of-mouth” marketing. Viral marketing campaigns are designed to mask their commercial origin, which raises multiple issues related to protecting consumers, especially young children. These campaigns are used to drive traffic to a firm’s website, Facebook page, or online marketing application. The brief describes viral marketing tactics used More

Recommendations for Healthier Beverages

Beverage choices contribute significantly to dietary and caloric intake in the United States. Choosing healthy beverages and other lower-calorie options, instead of high-calorie, sugar-sweetened beverages, has great potential to help Americans reduce caloric intake, improve diet quality, and reduce their risk for obesity. This document outlines a comprehensive set of age-based recommendations to define healthier More

Associations of Food Stamp Participation with Dietary Quality and Obesity in Children

Studies suggest that participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—the largest federal nutrition assistance program in the U.S.—may be associated with suboptimal dietary patterns among adults, but these associations have not been extensively examined among children. This paper discusses the results of a study that examined the overall dietary quality among a national sample More