Food taxes are being proposed or implemented in many countries. While the purpose of developing food taxes is likely a potential way to raise money for national treasuries, governments have justified them on health grounds. This article discusses, from a health perspective, the available evidence on how consumers are influenced by food prices. Findings from More
This article discusses a cross-sectional study evaluating the associations between child-care center policies about staff eating practices and caregivers’ dietary behaviors during mealtime interactions with children. Researchers observed no substantial associations between caregiver behaviors and center policies. Caregivers were observed modeling healthy dietary behaviors more frequently at centers that had written policies about staff modeling, More
Santa Clara County, California was the first U.S. jurisdiction to implement an ordinance that prohibits the distribution of toys and other incentives to children with meals, foods, or beverages that do not meet minimal nutrition criteria. This paper examines how ordinance-affected restaurants changed their children’s menus, child-directed marketing, and toy distribution practices relative to non-affected More
This paper discusses the development and psychometric properties (range, internal consistency, inter-rater reliability, and construct validity) of an instrument–the Wellness Child Care Assessment Tool–to quantitatively evaluate the comprehensiveness and strength of written nutrition and physical activity policies at preschools and child-care centers. To evaluate the instrument, psychometric analyses were conducted on 94 independent policies from More
This paper examines the association between the rural food environment and rural lower-income children’s food consumption and obesity rates in six rural towns in Maine. Researchers found few significant relationships between the community food environment and the home food environment. A marginally significant relationship was found between the distance parents traveled to shop and the More
This paper examines the assumptions that consumers know how many calories they should consume throughout the course of a day and customers improperly estimate the number of calories in their fast food order. It then examines whether mandatory menu labeling influences either of these assumptions. Based on receipt and survey data collected from consumers outside More
This paper discusses the impact of early elementary school attendance on children’s body weight. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Cohort of 1998 (ECLS-K), researchers compared the weights of children who had completed first grade to those of the same age who had completed kindergarten only. Employing a regression-discontinuity (RD) design, researchers found More
This paper examines the extent to which foods and beverages marketed to youth on the internet and television are available and marketed in retail food stores. Researchers assessed food marketing strategies in convenience/corner and grocery stores and found that 82% of stores assessed carried items marketed to youth on television or the internet. The items More
This paper discusses the development and validity of a self-administered survey to assess the nutrition and physical activity environment of child-care centers. The survey assesses four areas related to nutrition and physical activity: center policies, practices related to the social environment, physical environment and nutrition quality. To evaluate criterion validity of the survey, researchers compared More
In a 2005 report, Food Marketing to Children and Youth: Threat or Opportunity, an IOM expert committee concluded that prevailing food and beverage marketing practices did not support a healthful diet and provided recommendations to guide diverse stakeholders to promote a healthful diet to children and adolescents. This paper reviews the available evidence between December More
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