UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health

Full citation: Puhl RM, Himmelstein MS, Pearl RL. Weight stigma as a psychosocial contributor to obesity. Am Psychol. 2020;75(2):274-289. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000538

Full citation: L Harris J, Webb V, J Sacco S, L Pomeranz J. Marketing to Children in Supermarkets: An Opportunity for Public Policy to Improve Children’s Diets. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(4):1284. Published 2020 Feb 17. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17041284

Full citation: Pudney EV, Himmelstein MS, Puhl RM, Foster GD. Distressed or not distressed? A mixed methods examination of reactions to weight stigma and implications for emotional wellbeing and internalized weight bias [published online ahead of print, 2020 Feb 14]. Soc Sci Med. 2020;249:112854. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.112854

In a new analysis of studies conducted following the implementation of the 2010 Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA), researchers find positive effects on the dietary quality of meals served to school-aged children. Despite concerns over increased plate waste as a result of fruit and vegetable requirements, early regional studies comparing the proportion of foods consumed before and after the HHFKA implementation found that school plate waste did not increase. Producing healthier meals was also not associated with significantly increased costs. 

Full citation: Cohen J, Schwartz MB. Documented Success and Future Potential of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2020;120(3):359-362. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2019.10.021

Full citation: O’Brien KS, Puhl RM, Latner JD, et al. The Effect of a Food Addiction Explanation Model for Weight Control and Obesity on Weight Stigma. Nutrients. 2020;12(2):294. Published 2020 Jan 22. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12020294

Full citation: Harris JL, Pomeranz JL. Infant formula and toddler milk marketing: opportunities to address harmful practices and improve young children’s diets. Nutr Rev. 2020;78(10):866-883. https://doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuz095

Full citation: Powell LM, Andreyeva T, Isgor Z. Distribution of sugar-sweetened beverage sales volume by sugar content in the United States: implications for tiered taxation and tax revenue. J Public Health Policy. 2020;41(2):125-138. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41271-019-00217-x

70% of teens surveyed report engaging with food and beverage brands on social media and 35% engaged with at least five brands, according to a new study from the UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity published in the journal Appetite. The study, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, found that 93 percent of the brands that teens reported engaging with on social media were fast food, unhealthy snack foods, candy, and sugary drinks, which are primarily the brands that target them with traditional forms of advertising.

Researchers recommend that food and beverage manufacturers stop targeting teens with marketing for products that can harm their health. Currently, the food and beverage companies’ voluntary self-regulatory program, the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, only limits unhealthy advertising to children up to 11 years old. Researchers say the program should cover children up to at least 14 years old.

Public health and medical researchers have spent considerable money and time assessing the negative consequences of high weight in people, yet relatively less time focused on the language we use to describe the condition. On this episode, Rebecca Puhl joins to talk about research on obesity framing, stigma, and interventions.