Research & Publications | Healthy Eating Research

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A Technology-Driven, Healthcare-Based Intervention to Improve Family Beverage Choices: Results from a Pilot Randomized Trial in the United States

Within an academic health system in the United States that already performs electronic health record-based sugary drink screening, we conducted a pilot randomized trial of a technology-driven family beverage choice intervention. The goal of the intervention was to reduce sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) and fruit juice (FJ) consumption in 60 parent–child dyads, in which children were More

Date: April 2023

Resource Type: Journal Article

Focus Areas: Beverages

Healthy Snacks and Drinks for Toddlers: A Qualitative Study of Caregivers’ Understanding of Expert Recommendations and Perceived Barriers to Adherence

Despite expert recommendations, most toddlers consume sugary drinks and more sweet and salty snack foods than fruits and vegetables as snacks. Studies have examined toddler caregivers’ reasons for providing sugary drinks, but few have examined the reasons for providing nutritionally poor snack foods. Researchers conducted focus groups in one low-income community to assess caregivers’ familiarity, More

Date: February 2023

Resource Type: Journal Article

Focus Areas: Beverages Early Childhood

Water is K’é: A Community-Based Intervention to Increase Healthy Beverage Consumption by Navajo Preschool Children

This research brief gives an overview of the Water is K’é intervention, conducted among Navajo Nation families. The intervention was delivered by early care and education teachers to households with children ages 2-5, and covered the cultural importance of water, health benefits of water, and alternatives to sugary drinks. At baseline, more than 70% of children already More

Date: December 2022

Resource Type: Research Brief

Focus Areas: Beverages Early Childhood

Effects of Sugary Drink Countermarketing Videos on Caregivers’ Attitudes and Intentions to Serve Fruit Drinks and Toddler Milks to Young Children

This study aimed to test the effects of countermarketing videos addressing common misperceptions about ingredients and claims on children’s sugary drinks. An online randomized controlled experiment was conducted in January 2021 with US caregivers (n = 600) of young children (aged 8‒37 months) to assess the effects of watching countermarketing versus control videos on intentions to serve More

Date: October 2022

Resource Type: Journal Article

Focus Areas: Beverages

Effect of Front-of-Package Information, Fruit Imagery, and High–Added Sugar Warning Labels on Parent Beverage Choices for Children: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Fruit drinks are widely consumed by young children, and many parents mistakenly believe that these drinks are healthy, potentially due to front-of-package claims and imagery. This study aims to assess the effects of a front-of-package 100% vitamin C claim, fruit imagery, percentage juice and teaspoons of added sugar disclosures, and high–added sugar warnings on parents’ More

Date: October 2022

Resource Type: Journal Article

Focus Areas: Beverages

COVID-19 relief measures and food insecurity among low-wage worker families

During the COVID-19 pandemic, record numbers of households, including nearly 14 million children, reported not having enough to eat. In response, the federal government enacted a set of far-reaching relief measures, expanding both USDA nutrition assistance programs as well as other economic safety net measures. Within a sample of low-wage workers with children, this research More

SNAP Purchasing Power and Food Insecurity During the Pandemic

Food price inflation is an adverse outcome of COVID-19 that makes nutrition security more difficult for low-income families with children. School closures and pandemic-related assistance programs placed additional strains on the retail food system, which may have further amplified inflationary pressure on the cost of foods needed to support a healthy diet. The goal of More

Keywords: COVID-19, Supermarket

Date: July 2022

Resource Type: Grant Summary

Focus Areas: Nutrition Policy & Programs Pricing & Economics

Sweetened beverage taxes: Economic benefits and costs according to household income

Taxing sweetened beverages has emerged as an important and effective policy for addressing their overconsumption. However, taxes may place a greater economic burden on people with lower incomes. We assess the degree to which sweetened beverage taxes in three large U.S. cities placed an inequitable burden on populations with lower incomes by assessing spending on More

Date: July 2022

Resource Type: Journal Article

Focus Areas: Beverages Pricing & Economics

Additional Fruit and Vegetable Vouchers for Pregnant WIC Clients: An Equity-Focused Strategy to Improve Food Security and Diet Quality

Women with low household income and from racial/ethnic minority groups are at elevated risk of food insecurity. Food insecurity during pregnancy is associated with overall less healthy diets, lower intake of the pregnancy-supportive nutrients iron and folate, and significant variations in diet across the course of a month. The goal of this study was to More

Date: June 2022

Resource Type: Journal Article

Focus Areas: Diet Quality & Healthy Weight Nutrition Policy & Programs

Food Insecurity and Childhood Obesity: A Systematic Review

Addressing food insecurity while promoting healthy body weights among children is a major public health challenge. Our objective is to examine longitudinal associations between food insecurity and obesity in U.S. children aged 1 to 19 years. Sources for this research include PubMed, CINAHL, and Scopus databases (January 2000 to February 2022). We included English language More

Keywords: Food insecurity

Date: June 2022

Resource Type: Journal Article

Focus Areas: Diet Quality & Healthy Weight Food Access