UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health

To identify ways to improve supportive parent–child communication about weight, we assessed parent and youth perspectives of barriers to weight communication, preferences for educational resources and support, and whether perspectives differ across demographic groups and weight status. In Fall 2021, online surveys were completed by two independent, unrelated samples of parents (N = 1936) and youth (N = 2032). Parent and youth-reported barriers to weight communication included discomfort and lack of knowledge about weight, and views that weight does not need to be discussed. Most parents wanted guidance on how to navigate multiple weight related topics with their children. Youth preferences for how their parents can be more supportive of their weight included avoiding weight-related criticism and pressures, increasing sensitivity and encouragement, and emphasizing healthy behaviours rather than weight.

Full citation: Puhl, RM, Lessard, LM, Foster, GD, Cardel, MI. Parent–child communication about weight: Priorities for parental education and support. Pediatric Obesity. 2023;e13027. DOI:10.1111/ijpo.13027

In this paper, we suggest ways that the public health community can tap the system’s potential to strengthen community health and voices. We highlight (a) strategies to prioritize access to nutritious food and provide a dignified experience; (b) examples of how food pantries can be a portal to federal benefits, health care, and other resources; and (c) ideas on how these non-profit agencies can increase civic engagement and raise community voices.

Full citation: Schwartz, M., & Caspi, C. (2023). The Charitable Food System as a Change Agent. Frontiers in Public Health, 11, 1201. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1156501

In this paper, we: (a) describe how written food, nutrition, and physical activity district and state policies were strengthened in the United States in response to specific concerns about childhood obesity; (b) present how schools have historically addressed policies concerning children’s social, emotional, and behavioral health; and (c) propose using the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model to strengthen the coordination and integration of school wellness policies. We conclude by describing recently developed tools to assist school districts in implementing the WSCC model.

Full citation: Schwartz, M. B., Chafouleas, S. M., & Koslouski, J. B. (2023). Expanding School Wellness Policies to Encompass the Whole School, Whole Child, Whole Community Model. Frontiers in Public Health, 11, 1090. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1143474

The objective of this review was to summarize the evidence for the impact of Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) on children’s diet quality, weight status, food insecurity, and cognitive development. Nineteen articles were reviewed, most of which had been published since 2012. Seventeen used cross-sectional designs. Twelve evaluated foods and beverages served; 4 evaluated dietary intake; 4 evaluated the child care nutrition environment; 2 evaluated food insecurity, 1 evaluated weight status; none evaluated cognitive outcomes. Studies typically found either a small beneficial association with CACFP or no significant association.

Full citation: Kenney E. L., Tucker, K., Plummer, R. S., Mita, C., & Andreyeva, T. (2023). The Child and Adult Care Food Program and young children’s health: a systematic review. Nutrition Reviews, nuad016. https://doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuad016

Little is known about the prevalence of negative weight-biased attitudes among Dutch healthcare professionals (HCPs) when treating children and adolescents with obesity and whether interdisciplinary differences are present. Accordingly, we asked 555 Dutch HCPs that treat pediatric patients with obesity to complete a validated 22-item self-report questionnaire about their weight-biased attitudes. HCPs from all disciplines reported to experience negative weight-biased attitudes among themselves. Participants from all groups perceived weight bias expressed by their colleagues, toward children with obesity.

Full citation: van der Voorn, B., Camfferman, R., Seidell, J.C., Puhl, R.M., & Halberstadt, J. (2023) Weight-biased Attitudes about pediatric patients with obesity in Dutch health care professionals from seven different professions. Journal of Child Health Care. https://doi.org/10.1177/13674935221133953

Our aim was to evaluate the nutritional quality of the foods available from 3 USDA Foods programs for households (ie, The Emergency Food Assistance Program, Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, and Commodity Supplemental Food Program) according to the Healthy Eating Research (HER) Guidelines for the Charitable Food System. Using the HER Guidelines, foods were categorized into a 3-tiered system (ie, choose often/green; choose sometimes/yellow; choose rarely/red) based on levels of saturated fat, sodium, and added sugar per serving, and presence of whole grains. The majority of USDA Foods were ranked green (57.3%) or yellow (35.5%). A small number of items were ranked red (3.3%) or were unranked condiments or cooking staples (3.9%).

Full citation: Gombi-Vaca, M. F., & Schwartz, M. B. (2023). Evaluation of USDA Foods Programs for households using nutrition guidelines for the charitable food system. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2023.02.012

Researchers conducted focus groups in one low-income community to assess caregivers’ familiarity, understanding and attitudes regarding healthy drink and snack recommendations for toddlers. A convenience sample of 24 caregivers of toddlers (12–36 months) participated. Results showed most participants were familiar with recommendations, but many were surprised that some drinks and snack foods are not recommended, and most believed recommendations were not realistic. Common barriers to adhering to recommendations included beliefs about their child’s innate preferences, family modeling and others’ provision of drinks and snacks in and outside the home.

Full citation: Harris, J. L., Romo-Palafox, M. J., Gershman, H., Kagan, I., & Duffy, V. (2023). Healthy Snacks and Drinks for Toddlers: A Qualitative Study of Caregivers’ Understanding of Expert Recommendations and Perceived Barriers to Adherence. Nutrients, 15(4), 1006. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15041006

Candy, sweet and salty snacks, sugary drinks, and ice cream brands frequently appear in videos posted by top child-influencers on “made-for-kids” YouTube channels, according to a new paper from researchers at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health at the University of Connecticut. Video views for the 13 channels analyzed in this study exceeded 155 billion as of June 2020. 

The study’s findings, published in Pediatric Obesity, found that 38% of child-influencer videos featured branded food, beverage, or restaurant products, which appeared 4 times per video on average. Candy brands appeared most often (42% of brand appearances), followed by sweet and salty snacks, sugary drinks and ice cream (32% combined). Healthy branded products, such as bottled water, plain milk, or fruit, made up just 9% of food brand appearances. 

Frequent and widespread exposure to food marketing increases children’s preferences, purchase requests, attitudes, and consumption of the mostly nutrient-poor, energy-dense products promoted. Food and beverage companies have extended their reach to young people by marketing on digital media where children as young as age 3 increasingly spend their time. Viewing YouTube videos is one of the most popular online activities among children ages 6–8, and food marketing to children on YouTube, including advertisements, child-influencer endorsements, and branded products placed within videos, raises numerous concerns among child health experts.

Full citation: Fleming-Milici, F, Phaneuf, L, Harris, J. Prevalence of food and beverage brands in “made-for-kids” child-influencer YouTube videos: 2019–2020. Pediatric Obesity. 2023;e13008. doi:10.1111/ijpo.13008

This longitudinal study examined changes in the number quick-service restaurants (QSRs) between the 2006-2007 and 2017-2018 school years using data from National Center for Education Statistics, Infogroup US Historical Business Data, and the US Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service. Results showed there were more QSRs near schools with a high percentage of poverty (12%), and near schools with high school students with the highest population of Black or African American (16%) and Hispanic or Latino (18%) students. By 2018, the percent of QSRs within 400m of all public schools increased to 12%. The increase over time was greater near schools with a high percentage of poverty (16%) and near schools with high school students with the highest population of Black or African American students (22%) and Hispanic or Latino (23%) students.

Full citation: Olarte DA, Petimar J, James P, Stowers KC, Cash SB, Rimm EB, Economos CD, Blossom JC, Rohmann M, Chen Y, Deo R, Cohen JFW, Trends in quick-service restaurants near public schools in the United States: Differences by community, school and student characteristics, Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (2023), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2023.01.016.