State: National

Planning for Food Access: A National Scan and Evaluation of Local Comprehensive Planning and Zoning

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Low-income, underserved communities are often plagued with unhealthy food environments. A community’s comprehensive plan directly influences urban design and land-use regulations, which affect neighborhood food availability. While some local governments are including food access goals and policies in their local plans, little is understood about the quality, specificity and comprehensiveness of these goals and policies. More

Studying the Effect of Beverage Taxes on Children’s Energy Intake and Tax Revenue

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Health advocates have increasingly argued for taxes on calorically sweetened beverages. However, there is little empirical research that evaluates the public health and fiscal impacts of such taxes while simultaneously accounting for consumers’ and suppliers’ likely changes in economic behavior in response to a targeted tax. The aim of this study is to use econometric More

Examining How Increases in Earned Income Tax Credits, Food Prices and Neighborhood Context Affect Children’s BMI

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The goal of this project is to examine how increases in family income generated by geographic- and time-varying changes in earned income tax credits (EITC) impact children’s body mass index, and how this effect may depend on their neighborhood food environment and regional food prices. Focusing on EITC-generated income changes amounts to a quasi-experimental research More

Schools and Obesity Prevention: Creating School Environments and Policies to Promote Healthy Eating and Physical Activity

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Schools have an unparalleled opportunity to promote children’s health by creating an environment in which children eat healthy foods, engage in regular physical activity, and learn life-long skills for healthy eating and active living. In this article, authors discuss the role of schools in obesity prevention efforts, current issues in schools’ food and physical activity More

Obesity Metaphors: How Beliefs About the Causes of Obesity Affect Support for Public Policy

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Using the Yale Rudd Center Public Opinion on Obesity Survey, this study examines how individuals’ demographic/health characteristics, political attitudes and beliefs about the causes of obesity affect their support for obesity-reduction policies. Included in the study were seven obesity metaphors; how much respondents’ agreed with or used these metaphors was strongly predictive of whether they More

School Food Environments and Practices Affect Dietary Behaviors of U.S. Public School Children

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Using data from the third School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study, this study estimates the effects of school food environments on children’s consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, low-nutrient energy-dense foods and fruits and vegetables in school. The national study involved more than 2,300 children in 287 schools. Results demonstrated that sugar-sweetened beverages consumed at school contributed an More

Association Between School Food Environment and Practices and Body Mass Index of U.S. Public School Children

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Using data from the third School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study, this study estimates the association between school food environments and practices and children’s likelihood for obesity. (Obesity was defined as having a body mass index greater than the 95th percentile for their age.) The national study involved more than 2,200 children in 287 schools. The More