UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health

Fruit drinks and flavored waters that contain added sugars and/or low-calorie (diet) sweeteners dominated sales of drinks intended for children in 2018, making up 62% of the $2.2 billion in total children’s drink sales, according to Children’s Drink FACTS 2019, a new report from the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at the University of Connecticut. 

Researchers assessed the top-selling brands of children’s drinks—including 34 sweetened drinks (fruit drinks, flavored waters, and drink mixes) and 33 drinks without added sweeteners (100% juice, juicewater blends, and one sparkling water)—analyzing sales, advertising spending, children’s exposure to TV advertising, nutritional content, and product packaging. Findings indicate one-third of all children’s fruit drinks contained 16 grams or more of sugar per serving— equivalent to 4 teaspoons, which is more than half of the maximum amount of added sugars experts recommend for children per day. 

CSCH Program Manager Helene Marcy interviews CSCH Co-Director Sandra Chafouleas and CSCH Steering Committee Member Marlene Schwartz about their work developing the WellSAT WSCC Tool

This flyer, created in partnership with the Connecticut Department of Public Health, Connecticut Office of Child Health, and the Public Health Accreditation Board, explains in Spanish how to promote healthy eating and get children moving in early child care centers participating in CACFP.

This flyer, created in partnership with the Connecticut Department of Public Health, Connecticut Office of Child Health, and the Public Health Accreditation Board, explains how to promote healthy eating and get children moving in early child care centers participating in CACFP.

The Farmington Valley Podcast Network sits down with Sally Mancini, Marlene Schwartz, and Tatiana Andreyeva to discuss the regulations on food in school as well as the state of a sugar sweetened beverage tax in Connecticut.

Host Jenna Liut welcomes Dr. Marlene Schwartz, Director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at the University of Connecticut, back on the show to discuss the article she co-authored with Dr. Kelly Brownell and Dr. Lee Miller that was recently published in the American Journal of Public Health. The article, “Primer on US Food and Nutrition Policy and Public Health,” explores the critical and inextricable link between agriculture and public health and demonstrates the need for policies that simultaneously address hunger, obesity and the effects of agricultural production on the environment.

Full citation: Pearl RL, Himmelstein MS, Puhl RM, Wadden TA, Wojtanowski AC, Foster GD. Weight bias internalization in a commercial weight management sample: prevalence and correlates. Obes Sci Pract. 2019;5(4):342-353. Published 2019 Jul 11. https://doi.org/10.1002/osp4.354

Full citation: Pomeranz JL, Harris JL. Federal Regulation of Infant and Toddler Food and Drink Marketing and Labeling. Am J Law Med. 2019;45(1):32-56. https://doi.org/10.1177/0098858819849991

Full citation: Himmelstein MS, Puhl RM, Quinn DM. Overlooked and Understudied: Health Consequences of Weight Stigma in Men. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2019;27(10):1598-1605. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.22599

Approximately 20% of U.S. adolescents have obesity, and sexual minority females are even more likely to have higher body weight compared to their heterosexual peers, making them particularly vulnerable to weight-based teasing and bullying. While recent evidence suggests that many LGBTQ youth report experiencing Weight Bullying, this is the first study to examine how weight bullying affects eating behaviors, dieting, and weight-related health among this population.

The study, published in Appetite, is the first large-scale evidence of links between Weight Bullying, unhealthy eating behaviors, and weight-related health in LGBTQ youth, with findings revealing that LGBTQ youth who are teased or bullied about their body weight are more likely to engage in unhealthy eating behaviors, such as binge eating, unhealthy weight control, and dieting, and to have poor weightrelated health,