This study aimed to: explore the number and spatial distribution of 9,556 SNAP stores in North Carolina by type and assess how SNAP benefit redemption is linked to store type; compare the demographics of populations living in areas with a high concentration of SNAP participants vs areas with a lower concentration of SNAP participants; and More

While overall prevalence of obesity improved in Massachusetts public schools between 2009 and 2014, prevalence remained unchanged for children living in poor, rural, and smaller communities. This project will identify which programs and activities have been effective in reducing childhood obesity among the successful schools, and use the information to guide future interventions for those More

The American Journal of Preventive Medicine published a special theme issue highlighting discussions and recommendations from the July 2013 Built Environment Assessment Training (BEAT) Institute meeting. The BEAT Institute was developed to train investigators to use observational and self-reported measures of nutrition and activity environments, integrating the disciplines of nutrition, physical activity, obesity prevention, urban More

To characterize retail food environments and identify areas with limited retail access, researchers, government programs, and community advocates have primarily used secondary retail food outlet data sources. This systematic review examines the evidence for validity reported for secondary retail food outlet data sources for characterizing retail food environments. A literature search was conducted through December More

In 2009, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) was modified to align the WIC food packages with the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. As part of the revisions, WIC added a fruit and vegetable (F/V) voucher to the food packages. This paper describes a quasi-experimental study that examined whether F/V More

Price incentives on healthy foods, price disincentives on unhealthy foods, and greater access to healthier foods have received much attention from policy-makers and researchers as potentially effective obesity policies. The aims of this study are to: 1) estimate models to quantify the own- and cross-price elasticities (i.e., sensitivity) of processed foods, fruits and vegetables, and More

This study compared the results of direct, on-site observations of a wide range of food outlets in multiple American Indian communities in North Carolina, without a list guiding the field observation, to several secondary data sources. Researchers identified 699 food outlets during primary on-site data collection. The match rate for primary and secondary data differed More

This article describes the results of a study that examined changes in fruit and vegetable (FV) availability and selection at Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) vendors before and after implementation of the 2009 revised WIC food packages in Illinois. Overall, availability and selection of commonly consumed fresh FV and availability More

This paper discusses the results of a study that tested whether the associations between franchised fast-food restaurants or convenience store density near schools and childhood overweight varied by race/ethnicity, sex, and grade. Using data for 926,018 racially/ethnically diverse children in fifth, seventh, or ninth grade in 6,362 public California schools, researchers documented four findings in More

This article examines the impact of the 2009 food package changes for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) on the availability of healthful foods in two lower-income urban neighborhoods in Philadelphia. Each year, WIC provides more than 9 million pregnant and breast-feeding women, infants, and children up to age five More