This website provides a compilation of articles that include community-level measures of the food environment, as well as some of the instruments themselves. The food environment is defined to include food stores, restaurants, schools and worksites. This website is updated on a weekly basis.
This paper estimates the effects of junk food availability on body mass index (BMI), obesity, and related outcomes among a national sample of fifth graders. The researchers found that junk food availability does not significantly increase BMI or obesity among this fifth-grade cohort despite the increased likelihood of in-school junk food purchases. Estimates suggest that More
Santa Clara County, California was the first U.S. jurisdiction to implement an ordinance that prohibits the distribution of toys and other incentives to children with meals, foods, or beverages that do not meet minimal nutrition criteria. This paper examines how ordinance-affected restaurants changed their children’s menus, child-directed marketing, and toy distribution practices relative to non-affected More
Some legal scholars suggest that kids’ meal advertising constitutes false advertising because of its emphasis on toy premiums and movie tie-ins rather than food. Yet no one has assessed how the target population perceives such advertising. This study examines whether the emphasis on toy premiums and tie-ins in such ads misleads children to primarily associate More
This paper examines the assumptions that consumers know how many calories they should consume throughout the course of a day and customers improperly estimate the number of calories in their fast food order. It then examines whether mandatory menu labeling influences either of these assumptions. Based on receipt and survey data collected from consumers outside More
In a 2005 report, Food Marketing to Children and Youth: Threat or Opportunity, an IOM expert committee concluded that prevailing food and beverage marketing practices did not support a healthful diet and provided recommendations to guide diverse stakeholders to promote a healthful diet to children and adolescents. This paper reviews the available evidence between December More
This article assesses the impact of fast food restaurant menu labeling on the calorie content of individual lunchtime purchases of customers in New York City. Researchers found that, for the full survey sample, mean calories purchased did not change from before to after regulation. However, three major fast-food chains showed significant reductions in average calories More
This article examines the relationship between stores selling calorie-dense foods near schools and student risk of being overweight or obese. Based on survey and geographic information systems (GIS) data for 11 Main high schools, researchers found ten schools with at least one store selling soda, and eight schools with at least one fast-food restaurant, within More
This paper examines whether menu labeling in New York City (NYC) chain restaurants affects food purchases or frequency of fast food consumption by comparing a sample of lower-income adults in NYC to a similar sample in Newark, NJ (which did not introduce labeling). The study showed mixed findings. Researchers found no significant differences in food More
According to a 2008 Federal Trade Commission report, overall expenditures to promote foods and beverages to children and adolescents in the United States were more than $1.6 billion annually. Studies indicate that exposure to food advertising influences children’s attitudes, preferences, and food purchase requests toward foods with low nutritional value. It is therefore important for More
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