This study examines the effect of inoculation as a strategy in competitive framing in the context of public opinion about taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB). Inoculation is a theory of resistance to persuasion which suggests that by exposing an individual to a weakened form of an oppositional message, individuals can develop counterarguments to resist future More
This paper examines how the obesity status of different children within the same family is related to a parent or sibling’s obesity. Analyzing results of a 2011 national survey of adults in 10,244 U.S. households, researchers found that the likelihood of childhood obesity varied with the number of children in a household, as well as More
The advertising of foods and beverages with low nutritional value has been identified as a contributor to rising obesity rates among children. Food and beverage manufacturers often use health claims to promote their products to consumers, including parents seeking nutritious options for their children. While health claims may take varied forms (e.g., “diets low in More
This paper models the potential impact of two proposed policy changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): a ban on using SNAP dollars to buy sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs); and a subsidy structured so that for every SNAP dollar spent on fruits and vegetables, thirty cents is credited back to participants’ SNAP benefits card. Researchers More
Strategies to reduce consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are a key component of public health promotion and obesity prevention, yet the introduction of many of these policies has been met with political controversy. This paper assesses the levels and determinants of U.S. public support for policies to reduce consumption of SSBs. Respondents to an internet-based More
Many front-of-package (FOP) nutrition labeling systems have been developed by food retailers and manufactures to help consumers identify more healthful options at the point of purchase. This paper examines how two alternative FOP nutrition labeling systems – reductive and evaluative – affect shoppers’ product evaluations, choices, and retailer evaluations. Reductive FOP systems extract a reduced More
Some public health advocates and policymakers are proposing restrictions on the types of foods eligible for purchase with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, such as sugary drinks and food products with minimal nutritional value. To date, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has rejected all such proposals due to lack of research on whether More
This paper examines the associations between the food and physical activity environment in schools and body mass index (BMI) for lower-income boys and girls when they were in the 8th grade during 2007. Analyzing secondary data from the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 (ECLS-K), researchers found that a number of More
This paper examines how three video messages featured in the Strong4Life campaign affected public attitudes about: 1) the problem of obesity and its consequences; 2) who in society is responsible for addressing the problem; 3) support for obesity prevention policies; and 4) weight-based stigma. Researchers conducted a web-based survey experiment in May-June 2012 with a More
This paper analyzes the role of prices in determining food purchases and nutrition using a detailed transaction-level observation for a large, nationally-representative sample of U.S. consumers over the years 2002-2007. Using structural demand estimates, researchers simulated the effect of a 20 percent product tax on soda, other sugar-sweetened beverages, packaged meals, and snacks, and 20 More
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