Nutrition
Cutting Calories: Trillions at a Time
In this issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Ng, Popkin, and Slining1,2 present findings from their independent evaluation of the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation’s (HWCF’s) pledge to reduce calories sold in the U.S. marketplace by 1.5 trillion. The HWCF is a coalition of leading food and beverage manufacturers and other organizations, including many of the world’s largest corporations. Together, the 16 companies participating in the HWCF pledge account for approximately one third of all calories in the domestic food supply.Nutritional Quality of Menu Offerings at Eight Fast-Food Chains in the U.S.: A Commentary
In this issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Hearst and colleagues1 use the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Healthy Eating Index to provide a much-needed assessment of the nutritional quality of fast food and evaluate how it has changed over 14 years. Their results show that the nutritional quality of fast food has improved little over the last decade, rising a mere three points out of a 100-point scale. This tiny increase is disappointing, and a bit surprising, given the many pronouncements by companies that they have added healthier menu options, switched to healthier cooking fats, are reducing sodium, and are touting other changes in company press releases and advertising.Talking About Sugar Sweetened–Beverage Taxes: Will Actions Speak Louder Than Words?
In this issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Colleen Barry and her colleagues1 present results from a national public opinion survey assessing the level of support for arguments commonly used in public debate about instituting taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages. Many in public health want to learn what will persuade the public to support taxing sugary beverages because they are eager to mimic the success in tobacco control, where increasing excise taxes on cigarettes is the single most effective way to reduce consumption, especially among youth.Building Infrastructure to Document the U.S. Food Stream
As obesity has grown in both prevalence and severity in the U.S., there have been increasing calls for both regulatory and voluntary approaches to alter the nation's food supply so it becomes easier for both children and adults to “make the healthy choice.”1 As pointed out in the article by Slining et al.2 in this issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, the 16 companies participating in the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation (HWCF) have pledged to remove 1.5 trillion calories from the marketplace by 2015.The Public Health Implications of Fast-Food Menu Labeling
Excessive fast-food intake and the entire fast-food industry have been the source of strong criticism for pricing policies that enhance the purchases of large portion sizes; promotion of unhealthful foods high in sodium, saturated fats, and calories and depleted of many important minerals and vitamins; and seductive marketing that brings young children into fast-food–dependent diets at an early age.1–7 Indeed, cultural anthropologists studying the impact of McDonald's introduction into Asia note the profound effects of fast-food company practices and policies on the entire culture of eating.Carrots, Sticks, or Carrot Sticks?: Using Federal Food Policy to Engineer Dietary Change
In this issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, three descriptive research articles1–3 explore mechanisms by which federal food policy can influence the availability of foods and food purchase behaviors, in the directions emphasized in the Dietary Guidelines. In the article by Andreyeva and colleagues,1 the focus is on the proportion of money spent on beverages among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and non-SNAP participants from a single supermarket chain. In a sample of young, low-income families that had participated in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) the previous year, the authors identified that the subset who were also SNAP participants purchased a significantly higher percentage of sugar-sweetened beverages, compared to non-SNAP participants.Nutrition Policy Research That Can Lead to Reduced Childhood Obesity in the U.S.
One of the clear insights from obesity prevention research over the past few years is the potential for impactful, sustainable, and cost-effective policy change. This insight draws on lessons of the campaign to reduce tobacco use in the U.S. The tobacco campaigns clearly demonstrated the power of policy and regulatory change to promote healthier behavior. Although treatment and educational programs also have helped to reduce smoking, three key sets of policies drove down smoking rates in the U.S.: (1) the ban on advertising cigarettes on television; (2) the imposition of substantial taxes on tobacco; and (3) smoking restrictions in public spaces.Creating Supportive Nutrition Environments for Population Health Impact and Health Equity: An Overview of the Nutrition and Obesity Policy Research and Evaluation Network's Efforts
Childhood obesity is a major threat to individual health and society overall. Policies that support healthier food and beverage choices have been endorsed by many decision makers. These policies may reach a large proportion of the population or in some circumstances aim to reduce nutrition disparities to ensure health equity. The Nutrition and Obesity Policy Research and Evaluation Network (NOPREN) evaluates policy as a tool to improve food and beverage environments where Americans live, work, play, and learn.The Nation Needs to Do More to Address Food Marketing to Children
Food marketing has never been more important, as childhood obesity rates remain high, and food and beverage marketing takes on ever new and more sophisticated forms. Yet despite strong recommendations from the IOM, there has been little progress to address it, as Kraak et al.1 demonstrate in their paper in this issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.Societal Resolve and the Health of Children
If the true measure of society's progress is the attention devoted to the condition of its children, the nation may need a better compass to right its course. Six years ago, the IOM's Committee on Food Marketing to Children and Youth found, in effect, when it comes to health as arguably the key component of the human condition, 21st-century American culture has not measured up well in tending to its children's futures. Where do we stand today?Proprietary Information Considerations in Health, Activity, and Dietary Research: Implications of Knowing What Is in the “Black Box”
In this issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Chiuve and colleagues1 present findings from the Nurses' Health Study showing that the Overall Nutritional Quality Index (ONQI), a measure of healthfulness of dietary intake, was inversely associated with total chronic disease, diabetes, and all-cause mortality. This measure uses an algorithm based on a nutritional profiling scheme that incorporates numerous dietary components. Although the results of this study are promising with regard to the association between the ONQI score and chronic disease, this also raises a question with regard to the use of this score, when the algorithm used to derive the score is proprietary and, therefore, not available to the scientific or clinical community.The Use of Proprietary Nutrient Profiling Tools in Nutrition Science and Policy: A Commentary
In this issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Chiuve and colleagues1 examine the associations between a nutrient profiling index, the Overall Nutritional Quality Index (ONQI), and chronic disease. The ONQI and other nutrient profiling indices are generally intended to provide simple, standardized scores indicative of the healthfulness of particular foods. In this analysis, the authors apply the ONQI as one might apply a diet quality index to diets to examine whether scores generated by the index are associated with health outcomes among two large cohorts.Unraveling the Paradox of Concurrent Food Insecurity and Obesity
More than a decade ago, a nutrition paradox was first reported.1 According to national data, those living in poverty could experience simultaneously high levels of food insecurity (a condition of food insufficiency and undernutrition) and high levels of obesity (a condition of overnutrition).2 Townsend et al.2 found that the prevalence of overweight in women increased as the level of food insecurity increased. The convergence of under- and over-nutrition creates a “double burden” on the health of the poor.
