Centering equity in FDA regulation: Front-of-package food label effects in Latino and limited English proficiency populations

This project aims to determine the front-of-package label design that is most effective at helping Latino consumers identify and choose healthier products. The project also aims to explore whether the benefits of front-of-package design differ by English proficiency. Participants will include 4,000 US adults of parental age (18-55 years old) who identify as Latino. Participants More

Effects of front-of-package non-sugar sweetener disclosures on parents’ perceptions and selection of sweetened food and beverage products for their children

The project aims to use an online randomized experiment to 1) evaluate the impact of front-of-package (FOP) non-sugar sweetener (NSS) disclosures on a) parents’ selection of unsweetened products and b) parents’ selection of products with NSS and use focus group discussions to 2) examine parents’ understanding and perceptions of NSS and FOP NSS disclosures, 3) More

Increasing Water Affordability Through State Sales Tax Policy on Home Water Filter Pitchers and Replacement Cartridges

This study will compile sales tax rates for water filter pitchers, comparably priced faucet-mounted filters and replacement filter cartridges. One legal researcher will conduct primary legal research of state law for all fifty states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico using the legal databases Westlaw and LexisNexis. Tax rates will be verified by changing More

Enhancing Equity in Technical Assistance for an eLearning Training to Improve Healthy Beverage Policy Implementation Among Early Care and Education Teachers

The purpose of this study is to add an equity component to a study evaluating the effectiveness of an interactive, eLearning beverage policy training (iBevSmart) paired with eCoaching (technical assistance consultation and resources) for ECE centers in Georgia. This additional equity component of the study will: 1) develop and test equity-centered TA resources (storybook, song, More

Learning what works: case studies to understand parent perceptions of school meal programs during pandemic recovery

The goal of this convergent mixed-methods, multiple case-study project is to identify existing equity-focused strategies that can be used to address negative parental perceptions that may be scalable in resource-deprived areas, and to inform hypothesis-driven research on which strategies are most effective. The two objectives of the study are to: 1) Describe multi-level contextual factors More

Using community-based participatory systems science approach to inform promising strategies to reduce SSB and excess juice consumption among families of infants and toddlers in Puerto Rico

The purpose of this study is to inform promising strategies that can curb SSB and excess fruit juice consumption and potentially provide safe, palatable potable drinking water as an alternative by building capacity in systems thinking among diverse stakeholders that serve families with infants and toddlers in Puerto Rico. The study will employ Group Model More

Facilitating the Implementation of the HER Nutrition Guidelines for the Charitable Food System

The overall goal of the proposed analysis is to facilitate the successful implementation of the Healthy Eating Research Nutrition Guidelines for the Charitable Food System through the following four components: (1 Scoring – evaluate all food products provided through the federal food distribution programs (e.g., TEFAP, CSFP, FDPIR) according to the HER nutrition guidelines and More

Examining Facilitators and Barriers to Utilization of the Increased WIC Cash Value Benefit Among NC WIC Participants

Using COVID-relief funds, UDSA temporarily expanded the WIC FV cash value benefit (CVB) from $9-11 to ~$35/month/person for seven months, June – December 2021. The objective of this study is to use focus groups with a diverse group of WIC participants in North Carolina to examine barriers and facilitators to utilizing the temporarily expanded CVB, More