UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health

Full citation: Harris JL, Munsell CR. Energy drinks and adolescents: what’s the harm?. Nutr Rev. 2015;73(4):247-257. https://doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuu061

Full citation: Tomiyama AJ, Finch LE, Belsky AC, et al. Weight bias in 2001 versus 2013: contradictory attitudes among obesity researchers and health professionals. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2015;23(1):46-53. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.20910

Full citation: Suh Y, Puhl R, Liu S, Fleming Milici F. Parental support for policy actions to reduce weight stigma toward youth in schools and children’s television programs: trends from 2011 to 2013. Child Obes. 2014;10(6):533-541. https://doi.org/10.1089/chi.2014.0050

Beverage companies spent $866 million to advertise unhealthy drinks in 2013, and children and teens remained key target audiences for that advertising, according to a new report released today by the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity. The report, Sugary Drink FACTS 2014, highlights some progress regarding beverage marketing to young people, but also shows that companies still have a long way to go to improve their marketing practices and the nutritional quality of their products to support young people’s health.

In 2011 the first Sugary Drink FACTS provided a comprehensive analysis of the nutrition of sugary drinks and how they are marketed to young people. Three years later– using the same methods as the original Sugary Drink FACTS – Sugary Drink FACTS 2014 reveals how the sugary drink nutrition and marketing landscape has changed.

Obesity is associated with significant increases in absenteeism among American workers and costs the nation over $8 billion per year in lost productivity, according to a study recently published by Yale’s Rudd Center researchers. The study suggests that the health consequences of obesity negatively impact the workforce, and in turn create a significant financial challenge for the nation as well as individual states. The authors assert that policy solutions are needed to reduce these costs. 

Full citation: Puhl RM, Luedicke J, King KM. Public attitudes about different types of anti-bullying laws: results from a national survey. J Public Health Policy. 2015;36(1):95-109. https://doi.org/10.1057/jphp.2014.46

Full citation: Grow HM, Schwartz MB. Food marketing to youth: serious business. JAMA. 2014;312(18):1918-1919. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2014.8951

Full citation: Andreyeva T, Luedicke J, Wang YC. State-level estimates of obesity-attributable costs of absenteeism. J Occup Environ Med. 2014;56(11):1120-1127. https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000000298

Full citation: Harris JL, LoDolce ME, Schwartz MB. Encouraging big food to do the right thing for children’s health: a case study on using research to improve marketing of sugary cereals. Critical Public Health. 2014;25(3):320-332. https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2014.957655