UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health

Full citation: McKee SL, Cooksey-Stowers K, St Louis R, Schwartz MB. Understanding the process of implementing nutrition and physical activity policies in a large national child care organization: a mixed-methods study. Transl Behav Med. 2020;10(3):801-811. https://doi.org/10.1093/tbm/ibz045

Full citation: Harris J, Frazier W, Fleming-Milici F, et al. A qualitative assessment of US Black and Latino adolescents’ attitudes about targeted marketing of unhealthy food and beverages. Journal of Children and Media. 2019;13(3):295-316. https://doi.org/10.1080/17482798.2019.1604394

Nearly 40 million Americans face hunger, and many rely on the food banking system to supplement the groceries needed to feed themselves and their families. Consequently, it is essential to maximize the nutritional quality of food available through food pantries. At the same time, it is also important to encourage food pantry clients to select these healthier options. 

This study, published in Public Health Nutrition, introduced meal kits in food pantries to see whether this encouraged selections of nutrient dense foods, and it found that cllients were three times as likely to take kale and whole grains when meal kits were offered. 

Full citation: Stein EC, Stowers KC, McCabe ML, White MA, Schwartz MB. Ingredient bundles and recipe tastings in food pantries: a pilot study to increase the selection of healthy foods [published correction appears in Public Health Nutr. 2019 Jun;22(9):1723]. Public Health Nutr. 2019;22(9):1717-1722. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980019000259

Food and beverage companies frequently target children with marketing inside their schools, where they are a captive audience. This marketing shapes children’s preferences for foods and beverages that put their health at risk. This summary explains how food and beverage marketing is integrated into schools and how policies have been developed to help prevent this.

Full citation: Puhl RM, Himmelstein MS, Watson RJ. Weight-based victimization among sexual and gender minority adolescents: Findings from a diverse national sample. Pediatr Obes. 2019;14(7):e12514. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijpo.12514

This infographic, created from the Rudd Center’s 2019 Targeted Marketing report, visually represents money spent to advertise on Black-targeted TV, as well as the proportion of food-related TV ads viewed by Black teens.

This infographic, created from the Rudd Center’s 2019 Targeted Marketing report, visually represents money spent to advertise on Spanish-language TV, as well as the proportion of food-related TV ads viewed by Hispanic children on Spanish-language TV.

Since our first targeted marketing report was published in 2015, food companies with the most targeted advertising have launched or expanded corporate responsibility commitments to support health and wellness. But research shows that they have not improved their targeted advertising to support the health of Hispanic children and teens. Food-related ads on Spanish-language TV programming continue to almost exclusively promote fast food and unhealthy food and drinks.

Researchers analyzed 2017 Nielsen syndicated market research data to identify food-related TV advertising on Black-targeted TV networks (where Black consumers make up the majority of the audience), and exposure to all food-related TV ads by Black and White youth, including children (2-11 years) and teens (ages 12-17 years). Researchers also reviewed companies’ public statements about their targeted marketing practices.