Research & Publications | Healthy Eating Research

Focus Areas

Resource Types

Age Groups

Race/Ethnicity

Evaluating the impact of state-level economic-support policies on the nutritional health of kids and families

To address ongoing concerns of child poverty across the United States, states have introduced and modified family economic security policies related to the state minimum wage (MW) and state earned income tax credit (EITC). While poor nutritional health disproportionately impacts children who experience poverty, few studies have examined the potentially beneficial effects of state-level MW More

Date: November 2023

Resource Type: Grant Summary

Focus Areas: Diet Quality & Healthy Weight Food Access Pricing & Economics

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

Dynamics of macroeconomic factor effects on food assistance program participation in the United States

Macroeconomic factors relating to economic, financial, and sociological stress are identified and their impacts assessed concerning participation in key food assistance programs (SNAP, WIC, and NSLP). The econometric analysis covers the period October 1999 to September 2020. The impact of COVID-19 on participation in these programs also is quantified. Based on the parameter estimates obtained More

Date: June 2022

Resource Type: Journal Article

Focus Areas: Nutrition Policy & Programs Pricing & Economics

The Impact of a Pricing Manipulation Intervention on Food Sales in a Small Community Grocery Store in Baltimore City

This study tested a pricing manipulation strategy in a small grocery store to assess the impact on food sales. The prices of 35 healthy foods were decreased over time while simultaneously increasing the prices of 45 unhealthy foods. Trends in sales were examined across each manipulation period. Total sales of healthy foods remained relatively stable More

Keywords: Grocery store

Date: February 2022

Resource Type: Journal Article

Focus Areas: Food Retail Pricing & Economics

Sweetened Beverage Taxes: Legislative Approaches to Revenue Dedication and Allocation that Advance Equity

The purpose of this analysis is to provide useful guidance to policymakers and advocates regarding sweetened beverage tax (SBT) allocation and dedication. The specific aims are to: 1) collect all state SBT bills proposed in the United States in the past ten years, and all adopted local laws along with a representative set of proposed More

Date: September 2021

Resource Type: Commissioned Research Project Summary

Focus Areas: Beverages Pricing & Economics

Examining the Effects of Taxes and Warning Labels on Parents’ Purchases of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Using a Choice Experiment

The purpose of this study is to conduct a discrete choice experiment to investigate whether warning labels on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages (SSBs) alter the effectiveness of a tax on SSBs, especially among parents who are Black, Latinx and lower income. The research team will conduct an online choice experiment with 2,700 parents and caregivers of children More

Date: April 2021

Resource Type: Grant Summary

Focus Areas: Beverages Early Childhood Pricing & Economics

Sugary drink warnings: A meta-analysis of experimental studies

Policymakers worldwide are considering requiring warnings for sugary drinks. A growing number of experimental studies have examined sugary drink warnings’ impacts, but no research to our knowledge has synthesized this literature. To inform ongoing policy debates, this study aimed to identify the effects of sugary drink warnings compared with control conditions. Using a comprehensive search strategy, More

Date: May 2020

Resource Type: Journal Article

Focus Areas: Beverages Pricing & Economics

Studying the impact of combining fiscal incentives and disincentives to improve healthy food purchases by low-income households with children

Using economic modeling, this study seeks to advance nutritional equity by identifying ways to lower economic barriers to healthy eating among low-income households with children. This study will identify mechanisms for directing unhealthy food and beverage tax revenues towards healthy incentives, particularly through existing federally-funded, but local and state-run programs such as WIC and SNAP. More

Date: February 2020

Resource Type: Grant Summary

Focus Areas: Nutrition Policy & Programs Pricing & Economics

Evaluating A USDA Program That Gives SNAP Participants Financial Incentives To Buy Fresh Produce In Supermarkets

Pricing incentives may reduce disparities in obesity among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants by increasing fruit and vegetable purchases. However, few studies have evaluated the feasibility and effectiveness of those incentives in supermarkets, as opposed to farmers markets. In 2015 and 2016, as part of a US Department of Agriculture (USDA) pilot program, a More

Date: November 2019

Resource Type: Journal Article

Focus Areas: Food Retail Nutrition Policy & Programs Pricing & Economics