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 fast-food demand by households with children; 2) develop new measures of healthy food access at the census tract level using GIS data on store locations and detailed scanner data on retailer-specific food sales, and evaluate the performance of the new measure in the context of the food demand model developed in Aim 1; and 3) expand the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) Food Pricing and Intake Simulator, an electronic toolkit for food pricing policy analyses developed by the study team with RWJF funding, to account for consumption of fruits and vegetables and fast foods and add new functional features to the toolkit. The updated toolkit will be able to simulate the dietary and fiscal impacts of food subsidies and taxes on overall nutrition and government revenue. This work will be conducted using data from children and adolescents ages 3 to 18 and their families who participated in Nielsen’s Homescan between 2004-2006, with a focus on lower-income and ethnic minorities.
Start Date: March 2013
ID #: 70754
Principal Investigator: Chen Zhen, MS, PhD
Organization: Research Triangle Institute
Funding Round: Round 7
Age Groups: Adolescents (grades 9 to 12), Adults and Families, Elementary-age children (grades K to 5), Preschool-age children (ages 3 to 5), Young adolescents (grades 6 to 8)
Keywords: Corner store, Fast food, Food outlet, Fruits and vegetables, Geographic information systems, Grocery store, Sugar-sweetened beverages, Supermarket, Taxes
Focus Areas: Food Access, Pricing & Economics
Resource Type: Grant Summary
Race/Ethnicity: Multi-racial/ethnic
State: National
Related Research
August 2025
Diet Quality and Weight Status are Predicted by Federal Nutrition Assistance Program Participation, Health, and Demographics
This study investigated whether demographic, social, and economic determinants of health, including length of time participating in safety net programs, are associated with diet quality and weight status in early childhood. Using the WIC infant and toddler feeding practices study-2, classification and regression tree identified the sequence of binary splits that best differentiated the sample MoreJuly 2025
State Earned Income Tax Credit and Food Security: Results Among Economically At-Risk Households With Children
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the state Earned Income Tax Credit on food insecurity among economically at-risk U.S. households with children and explore differential effects across sociodemographic groups. The authors used an intent-to-treat causal inference design and household-level data from all 50 U.S. states available from the Current Population MoreMay 2025