Age Group: Preschool-age children (ages 3 to 5)

The Impact of Pictorial Health Warnings on Purchases of Sugary Drinks for Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial

By

This study aimed to examine the impact of pictorial warnings on parents’ purchases of sugary drinks for their children in a naturalistic store laboratory. Parents of children ages 2 to 12 (n = 325, 25% identifying as Black, 20% Hispanic) completed a shopping task in a naturalistic store laboratory in North Carolina. Participants were randomly More

Front-of-package claims & imagery on fruit-flavored drinks and exposure by household demographics

By

Young children regularly consume sugary fruit drinks, in part because parents may falsely believe they are healthful due to front-of-package (FOP) claims and imagery. The goal of this study was to assess: 1) the prevalence of FOP claims/imagery on fruit-flavored beverages purchased by U.S. households with 0-5-year-olds, and 2) proportional differences in beverages purchased with More

Federal Nutrition Programs During the COVID-19 Pandemic: WIC

By

In response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act authorized USDA to approve waivers, requested by WIC state agencies and Tribal Nations, which would ensure WIC benefit access for families already participating in the program, as well as newly eligible families. These waivers and flexibilities provided researchers a More

Food Outlet Density, Distance, and Food Quality Offered to Preschool-Aged Children at Family Child Care Homes

By

This study aimed to examine how food environments around family child care homes (FCCHs) are associated with the healthfulness of foods served to children. The study included cross-sectional data from a mail survey of 132 Mississippi FCCHs. Rural FCCHs with higher counts of supermarkets, convenience stores, and produce stores had lower compliance with selected best More

Examining Facilitators and Barriers to Utilization of the Increased WIC Cash Value Benefit Among NC WIC Participants

By

Using COVID-relief funds, UDSA temporarily expanded the WIC FV cash value benefit (CVB) from $9-11 to ~$35/month/person for seven months, June – December 2021. The objective of this study is to use focus groups with a diverse group of WIC participants in North Carolina to examine barriers and facilitators to utilizing the temporarily expanded CVB, More

Changing Policies and Practices to Implement Beverage Consensus Recommendations

By

In 2018, Healthy Eating Research (HER)—a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)—developed a national research agenda to reduce the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) and increase access to and consumption of safe drinking water among 0- to 5-year-olds. Through this process, it became clear that a lack of consistent recommendations for beverage More

Evidence-Based Recommendations and Best Practices for Promoting Healthy Eating Behaviors in Children 2 to 8 Years

By

Dietary recommendations are available about what to feed children ages 2 to 8 for optimal health, but relatively little guidance exists about how to feed those children. Because of the discrepancy between young children’s recommended and actual dietary intakes, there is a clear need for such guidance. To address this gap, Healthy Eating Research convened More

Assessing the Public Health Impacts of the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative

By

The Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) is a voluntary industry initiative in which companies commit to featuring only foods meeting specific nutrition criteria in advertising directed primarily to children under age 12. New criteria that were announced in 2018 and went into effect in 2020 strengthened the nutrition standards and changed the criteria More