UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health

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.

Critical weight communication between parents and their adolescent children is prevalent and harmful. However, research on adolescent perspectives about parental weight communication is limited. The present mixed-methods study aimed to address this gap using inductive thematic analysis of 1743 adolescents’ (Mage=14.61 years, SDage=2.48) preferences regarding parental weight communication in response to an open-ended prompt, and quantitative analyses to examine age, gender, race/ethnicity, and weight-related differences in subthemes. We identified 15 subthemes across these categories—the endorsement of which often varied by adolescents’ demographic and anthropometric characteristics. Across most subthemes, adolescents described adverse responses (e.g., feeling insecure, embarrassed, or hurt) when parents discussed their weight in non-preferred ways.

Full citation: Lawrence, S. E., Lessard, L. M., Puhl, R. M., Foster, G. D., & Cardel, M. I. (2023). “Look beyond the weight and accept me”: Adolescent perspectives on parental weight communication. Body Image, 45, 11-19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2023.01.006

In this paper, we aim to confirm the existence of the selective daily mobility bias (SDMB) by systematically exploring the large-scale GPS-based restaurant-visit patterns in the Greater Harford region, Connecticut. Our primary results demonstrate that (1) most restaurant customers originate from areas outside of the census tract where the restaurant is located, and (2) restaurants located in socially vulnerable areas attract more customers in total, more customers from local areas, and more customers from other socially vulnerable areas. These results confirm the relevance of the SDMB to the community food environment, and suggest ways that the SDMB can be moderated by an uneven socio-economic landscape.

Full citation: Jin, A., Chen, X., Huang, X., Li, Z., Caspi, C. E., & Xu, R. (2023). Selective Daily Mobility Bias in the Community Food Environment: Case Study of Greater Hartford, Connecticut. Nutrients, 15(2), 404. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15020404

A new investigation by ad watchdog TINA.org and the UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy & Health has found that “lifestyle sports nutrition brand” Ghost is unfairly and deceptively marketing adult energy drinks and supplements to children in violation of Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) law. The groups have filed a complaint with the regulators urging the agencies to take enforcement action.

TINA.org and the Rudd Center’s investigation found that Ghost is using candy brands popular among children and young teens, including Swedish Fish, Bubblicious, Sour Patch Kids and Warheads, to flavor and package energy drinks and supplements that are only intended for adults. Mondelez International Inc. and Impact Confections, makers of the candies, were also notified of the findings.

An Internet sample of 408 US parents (64% mothers; 34% White, 33% Black, and 32% Hispanic/Latinx) completed a survey to quantitatively examine parental reasons for engaging in and avoiding weight talk. Parents cited concern for their child’s health as a primary reason for weight talk, whereas avoidance stemmed from not wanting their child to be weight-obsessed. White and Hispanic vs. Black parents, and parents with experienced weight stigma, were more likely to cite personal struggles with body weight as reasons to both engage in and avoid weight talk. Fathers vs. mothers were more likely to cite protecting their child from weight-based bullying as a reason for weight talk. Understanding these parental motivations can inform health interventions.

Full citation: Pudney, E. V., Puhl, R. M., Halgunseth, L. C., & Schwartz, M. B. (2022). Parental reasons for engaging in or avoiding weight talk with children. Childhood Obesity. http://doi.org/10.1089/chi.2022.0173

Online survey data from 2 panel survey samples between September and December 2021: youth aged 10 to 17 years (n = 2032) and parents of youth aged 10 to 17 years (n = 1936) were collected to assess perspectives of weight-based terminology in 2 racially/ethnically diverse samples of youth and parents. Youth reported preferences for words such as “healthy weight” and dislike of terms such as “obese,” “fat,” and “large,” which induced feelings of sadness, shame, and embarrassment. Differences in youth preferences and emotional reactions were present across sex, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, and weight status.

Full citation: Puhl, R., Lessard, L. M., Foster, G. D., & Cardel, M. I. (2022).Patient and Family Perspectives on Terms for Obesity.  Pediatrics e2022058204. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2022-058204

U.S. food companies disproportionately target Black and Hispanic consumers with marketing for high-calorie, low-nutrient products including candy, sugary drinks, snacks, and fast food. The more than one billion spent on this targeted marketing exacerbates inequities in poor diet and diet-related diseases in communities of color, including heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.

This report updates the Rudd Center’s previous report on ethnically targeted advertising of packaged foods and beverages that examined 2017 data. Since then, TV viewing habits and advertising trends have changed dramatically. This report examines how these broader viewing and advertising trends have impacted ethnically targeted food advertising is unknown.

Two waves of data (2018 [baseline], 2019) and included 219 and 321 low-wage workers in Minneapolis and Raleigh (respectively) were collected to determine whether an increase in hourly wages was associated with changes in food security and perceived stress among low-wage workers. Average hourly wages increased from US$9.77 (SD US$1.69) to US$11.67 (SD US$4.02). Changes in wages were not associated with changes in food security  or stress  after 1 year of policy implementation. Changes in food security were not associated with changes in diet. However, we found significant changes in the frequency of fruit and vegetable intake across time by levels of stress, with decreased intake from Wave 1 to 2 at low levels of stress, and increased intake at high levels of stress.

Full citation: Chapman, L. E., Berkowitz, S. A., Ammerman, A., De Marco, M., Ng, S. W., Zimmer, C., & Caspi, C. E. (2022). Examining Changes in Food Security, Perceived Stress, and Dietary Intake in a Cohort of Low-Wage Workers Experiencing an Increase in Hourly Wage. Health Promotion Practice, 15248399221128005. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248399221128005

U.S. food and beverage companies disproportionately target Black and Hispanic consumers with advertising for high-calorie, low-nutrient products, including candy, sugary drinks, and snacks, according to a new study by the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Health at the University of Connecticut. The millions they spend on this targeted marketing contribute to inequities in diet-related diseases heavily affecting communities of color, including heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.