Capitalizing on a natural experiment and existing data, this project will investigate the impact of competitive food and beverage policies on child and adolescent weight status. This work specifically includes the evaluation of the impact of competitive food and beverage policies adopted by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) on patterns in BMI and racial/ethnic disparities in BMI, as well as assessment of the impact of the LAUSD policies compared to the California-wide policies on these outcomes. The population to be studied in this research includes children and adolescents in fifth, seventh and ninth grades who attended LAUSD public schools and other California public schools between 2001 and 2007.
Start Date: September 2008
ID #: 65047
Principal Investigator: Emma Sanchez-Vaznaugh, ScD, MPH
Organization: San Francisco State University
Funding Round: New Connections Round 2
Age Groups: Adolescents (grades 9 to 12), Elementary-age children (grades K to 5), Young adolescents (grades 6 to 8)
Keywords: Body mass index (BMI), Competitive foods, Nutrition standards, Snacks, Sugar-sweetened beverages, Urban
State: California
Resource Type: Grant Summary
Race/Ethnicity: Multi-racial/ethnic
Focus Area: School & After School
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This article explores whether new policies restricting ‘competitive’ foods and beverages in schools affected the increasing rates of overweight children in California. While the authors find that the rate of increase of overweight children did decrease significantly since the policies’ implementation, the extent to which the policies contributed to this rate of decrease in childhood MoreNovember 2023