Testing the Effectiveness of a Double-Dollar Incentive Program to Increase Purchases of Fruits and Vegetables

Currently there is much interest in incentivizing the purchase of healthier food items among lower-income populations. The purpose of this project is to pilot test a double-dollar incentive program traditionally used at farmers’ markets to increase purchases of fresh, frozen, and canned fruits and vegetables in a large grocery store retail setting (Hannaford). Approximately 400 More

Do Emotional Appeals in Public Service Advertisements Influence Adolescents’ Intention to Reduce Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages?

Mass media campaigns are a commonly used and often effective public health strategy. However, it is unknown how health messages about sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), widely accepted and advertised products, will be perceived by teen audiences. This study investigated the direct and mediated effects of emotional appeals in beverage-related public service advertisements (PSAs) that aired between More

The Michigan Healthy School Action Tools Process Generates Improvements in School Nutrition Policies and Practices, and Student Dietary Intake

The Michigan Healthy School Action Tools (HSAT) is an online self-assessment and action planning process for schools seeking to improve their health policies and practices. This study evaluated whether undertaking the Michigan HSAT process and receiving assistance from a facilitator and a small amount of grant funding resulted in (1) improvements in school nutrition practices More

Evaluating Industry Self-Regulation of Food Marketing to Children

In response to growing concern about children’s exposure to unhealthy food advertising, the food industry adopted a program of self-regulation – the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) – with participating companies pledging to limit child-targeted advertising to healthier products. This study assesses the efficacy of industry self-regulation by comparing advertising content on children’s More

An Accountability Evaluation for the Industry’s Responsible Use of Brand Mascots and Licensed Media Characters to Market a Healthy Diet to American Children

This study explored diverse stakeholders’ accountability expectations and actions for industry policies and practices that used cartoon brand mascots and media characters to market foods and beverages to American children. A companion paper examined how media characters may influence diet-related outcomes for children younger than 12 years. Investigators used a four-step accountability framework to identify More

Monitoring the Uptake of National AfterSchool Association Healthy Eating Standards and Best Practices in Out-of-School-Time Programs

This project builds upon previous work conducted to develop, disseminate, and promote adoption and implementation of the National AfterSchool Association (NAA) Healthy Eating and Physical Activity (HEPA) standards in out-of-school-time programs (OST). The HEPA standards have been adopted by several major national service organizations that represent thousands of OST sites, but no periodic, cross-organization effort More

Assessment of a Government-Subsidized Supermarket in a High-Need Area on Household Food Availability and Children’s Dietary Intakes

The objective of this study was to assess the impact of a new government-subsidized supermarket in a high-need area on household food availability and dietary habits in children. In September 2011, a new supermarket was opened in the Morrisania community in the South Bronx, New York, with funding from New York City’s Food Retail Expansion More

Potential Population-Level Nutritional Impact of Replacing Whole and Reduced-Fat Milk With Low-Fat and Skim Milk Among US Children Aged 2-19 Years

This study aimed to evaluate the population-level impact of substituting low-fat and skim milk for whole, reduced-fat, and flavored milk (milk eligible for replacement [MER]) on energy, macronutrient and nutrient intakes, and diet cost. Analyses were based on data from 8,112 children and adolescents (ages 2-19) who completed a 24-hour dietary recall through the National More

Examining the Influence of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Health Warning Labels

The purpose of this project is to understand the influence of health warning labels displayed on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) on consumer perceptions. This study was commissioned in response to California’s recent proposal to place health warning labels on SSBs in the absence of data. Investigators will conduct two randomized-controlled, web-based surveys to examine how a More