The Childhood Obesity Epidemic: Lessons Learned from Tobacco

The large increases in the prevalence of cigarette smoking and obesity in the 20th century are associated with changes in tobacco and food products, as well as social and physical environments that support or discourage smoking, unhealthy dietary intake, and sedentary behaviors. This paper focuses on several of the primary factors responsible for the increase More

How Television Fast Food Marketing Aimed at Children Compares with Adult Advertisements

This article compares quick-service restaurant (QSR) television advertisements for children’s meals with adult advertisements from the same company to assess whether companies were complying with their self-regulatory pledges. Researchers coded nationally televised advertisements for visual and audio assessments of branding, toy premiums, movie tie-ins, and depictions of food. They found that almost all of the More

Predicting the Effects of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Taxes on Food and Beverage Demand in a Large Demand System

This paper predicts the effects of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxes on demand for 23 categories of packaged foods and beverages and the associated changes in calories, fat, and sodium intake and consumer welfare. Using household food purchase data from the national 2006 Nielsen Homescan panel, researchers used demand elasticity estimates to simulate the effects of More

Diet Beverages and the Risk of Obesity, Diabetes, and Cardiovascular Disease: A Review of the Evidence

Diet beverages, or artificially-sweetened beverages (ASBs), became popular over the last few decades, largely due to successful marketing campaigns implying that consumption of these beverages would assist in weight control or weight loss. This review examines the existing evidence on the relationship between the consumption of diet beverages and the risk of obesity, diabetes, and More

Nutritional Quality at Eight U.S. Fast-Food Chains: 14-Year Trends

This article assesses trends in the nutritional quality of menu offerings in eight U.S. fast-food restaurant chains from 1997/1998 to 2009/2010. Researchers calculated Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2005 scores for each restaurant as a measure of the extent to which menu offerings were consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and compared the scores over time. More

Menu Labeling Regulations and Calories Purchased at Chain Restaurants

This article evaluates the impact of a menu labeling regulation in King County, Wash., on calories purchased and awareness and use of labels six and 18 months after implementation. Like prior studies, researchers found no significant changes in calories purchased six months after implementation, but found a modest decrease in the calories purchased after 18 More