UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health

Despite food company pledges to reduce marketing of unhealthy products to children, a Rudd Center study finds that children are disproportionately targeted by food company websites using branded computer games, known as advergames. Researchers also found that playing these games increases children’s consumption of junk food. The study is published online in the Journal of Children and Media.

In the first study to examine cereal-buying patterns in homes in the United States, researchers at the Rudd Center found that African-American and Hispanic families are most likely to buy cereals that are advertised directly to children, which are also the least nutritious cereals. The study appears online in the journal Public Health Nutrition.

Full citation: Kenney EL, Henderson KE, Humphries D, Schwartz MB. Practice-Based Research To Engage Teachers and Improve Nutrition in the Preschool Setting. Childhood Obesity. 2011;7(6):475-479. https://doi.org/10.1089/chi.2011.0028

Full citation: Castetbon K, Harris JL, Schwartz MB. Purchases of ready-to-eat cereals vary across US household sociodemographic categories according to nutritional value and advertising targets. Public Health Nutr. 2012;15(8):1456-1465. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980011003065

Full citation: Falbe J, Kenney EL, Henderson KE, Schwartz MB. The Wellness Child Care Assessment Tool: a measure to assess the quality of written nutrition and physical activity policies. J Am Diet Assoc. 2011;111(12):1852-1860. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2011.09.006

Full citation: Harris JL, Thompson JM, Schwartz MB, Brownell KD. Nutrition-related claims on children’s cereals: what do they mean to parents and do they influence willingness to buy?. Public Health Nutr. 2011;14(12):2207-2212. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980011001741

Adolescents report that being overweight is a primary reason that students are teased at school, according to a study from the Rudd Center. The study appears online in the journal Journal of School Health.

Full citation: Puhl RM, Luedicke J, Heuer C. Weight-based victimization toward overweight adolescents: observations and reactions of peers. J Sch Health. 2011;81(11):696-703. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.2011.00646.x

Full citation: Peterson JL, Puhl RM, Luedicke J. An experimental investigation of physical education teachers’ and coaches’ reactions to weight-based victimization in youth. Psychology of Sport and Exercise. 2012;13(2):177-185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2011.10.009

Full citation: Puhl RM, White MA, Paris M, Anez LM, Silva MA, Grilo CM. Negative weight-based attitudes in treatment-seeking obese monolingual Hispanic patients with and without binge eating disorder. Compr Psychiatry. 2011;52(6):737-743. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2010.11.006