Developing and Evaluating the Effectiveness of Pictorial Health Warnings on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages to Overcome Language and Literacy Barriers

Childhood obesity is a major public health problem in the U.S. among racial and ethnic minorities, including among the growing Latino population in the U.S. One promising but understudied policy for addressing childhood obesity is requiring health warnings on the front of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) containers. Pictorial warnings in particular hold promise for overcoming language More

Conducting Research to Promote Healthy Weight Gain During Children’s First 1,000 Days, Particularly Among Disproportionately Burdened Populations

The first 1,000 days describes the period from pre-pregnancy through age 2 years, and is increasingly recognized as a critical period for development of childhood obesity. The overall goal of this study is to develop and refine health messaging for future interventions among families living in Washington Heights, a low-income New York City neighborhood with More

Understanding the Feasibility of Implementing the Recommendations for Minimum Stocking Levels and Marketing Strategies for Small Retail Food Stores

The purposes of this project are to: 1) understand the barriers and facilitators to the implementation of the Minimum Stocking Levels and Marketing Strategies of Healthful Foods for Small Retail Food Stores recommendations developed in 2015 among stores most likely to face challenges (rural and urban, dollar and family-owned stores), and 2) obtain a baseline More

Effectiveness of Fresh to You, a Discount Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Market in Low-Income Neighborhoods, on Children’s Fruit and Vegetable Consumption, Rhode Island, 2010-2011

Increasing access to farmers’ markets is a recommended approach to increase fruit and vegetable consumption. However, there are challenges to increasing access in underserved and lower-income neighborhoods, including short growing seasons, lack of access to culturally appropriate or desired produce, and high cost of produce at farmers’ markets. The “Fresh to You” program, a partnership More

Big Soda’s Long Shadow: News Coverage of Local Proposals to Tax Sugar-Sweetened Beverages in Richmond, El Monte and Telluride

Taxing sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) has been identified as a key policy lever to reduce consumption of sugary drinks and to fund nutrition and physical activity programs. This paper analyzes news coverage of three SSB tax proposals in Richmond and El Monte, Calif., and Telluride, Colo., in 2012 and 2013. Although these three proposals failed, news More

Policy Improves What Beverages are Served to Young Children in Child Care

In 2011, the U.S. Department of Agriculture began requiring that child-care sites participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) make drinking water available throughout the day and serve only low-fat or non-fat milk to children ages 2 years and older. In 2012, the California Healthy Beverages in Child Care law additionally required More

Strategic Messaging to Promote Taxation of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages: Lessons from Recent Political Campaigns

Strategic messaging is used to emphasize certain aspects of issues in policy debates, shaping public views and policy-making processes. This paper explores the use of strategic messaging by proponents of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxation to influence public opinion, emphasizing the experiences in El Monte and Richmond, Calif., where SSB tax proposals were voted on in More

Lessons Learned from Small Store Programs to Increase Healthy Food Access

This paper presents the experiences and lessons learned from small food store interventions in four U.S. cities – Baltimore, Md.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Burlington, N.C.; and Philadelphia, Pa. Experiences from these four communities indicate that small store interventions face a variety of challenges that impact feasibility, acceptability, and long-term success. Particularly challenging issues included: understanding and More

Examining Contracts and Agreements Between Small-Scale Food Retailers and the Food Industry

Small retail food stores are ubiquitous in lower-income, urban settings, and are a major food source among lower-income racial and ethnic minority children and adolescents. Little is known about the types of agreements (e.g., slotting fees, retail promotional programs, exclusive contracts) that small retail food stores may have with manufacturers and distributors of high-sugar, high-fat More