Healthy Food Purchasing Among African American Youth: Associations with Child Gender, Adult Caregiver Characteristics and the Home Food Environment

This article discusses how the home food environment and caregiver and youth characteristics are associated with healthy food purchasing among lower-income African-American youth. Researchers found that intentions to eat healthier, caregivers’ attitude towards healthy eating and more frequent food preparation by family members were each significantly associated with higher frequency of purchasing healthy foods among More

Examining Rewards-Based Incentives for Fruit and Vegetable Purchases by Lower-Income Families

Incentives that reward healthier food purchases and that provide reinforcement to the consumer have not been systematically and rigorously studied, particularly among lower-income populations. The aim of this study is to determine whether an incentive-based system increases healthier food purchasing practices by lower-income families. The study is a randomized controlled trial of 70 adult supermarket More

Separate and Unequal: The Influence of Neighborhood and School Characteristics on Spatial Proximity Between Fast Food and Schools

This article examines the location of fast food restaurants near schools in New York City, based on school type, school racial demographics and area racial and socioeconomic demographics. Researchers found that a minimum of 25% of schools had fast food restaurants within 400 meters. High schools had higher fast food clustering than elementary schools, and More

Healthy Food Availability in Small Urban Food Stores: A Comparison of Four U.S. Cities

This article assesses the availability of healthy foods in small food stores within four metropolitan areas: Baltimore, Maryland; Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota; Oakland, California; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Overall, availability of healthy foods within these small urban stores was limited. For nearly all food/beverage categories, scores regarding healthy food availability increased as store size increased.

The Rationale Behind Small Food Store Interventions in Low-Income Urban Neighborhoods: Insights from New Orleans

This paper explores the rationale behind small store interventions by pulling together various studies in health, planning, and marketing literature and pilot work conducted in New Orleans. The authors discuss store and food availability in lower-income neighborhoods and how changing the foods available in stores can affect purchasing behavior, diet and the economics of local More

Assessing Changes in Regulations at Chicago Child-Care Facilities to Prevent Childhood Obesity

In the fall of 2009, the Chicago Board of Health will adopt changes to child-care regulations intended to improve nutrition standards, establish minimum time requirements for physical activity and set maximum time requirements for screentime. During a two-year voluntary phase-in period child-care providers will receive education and training to facilitate compliance. This study will evaluate More

Mobile Food Vending and the After-School Food Environment

This article finds that mobile food vendors contribute to after-school snacking among children, and should be considered part of the school food environment. Based on data collected in Oakland, CA in the spring of 2008, researchers found a wide variety of vendors near schools. They include vendors who sell low-nutrient, calorie-dense items, such as ice More