Nutrition
Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Interventions in Faith-Based Settings: A Systematic Review Using the Reach, Effectiveness/Efficacy, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance Framework
Faith-based health interventions may improve obesity-related health behaviors, including healthy eating and physical activity. However, the generalizability of results and comprehensiveness of reporting for critical design elements sufficient for large-scale implementation and broad public health impact are unclear. This review assesses the degree to which faith-based healthy eating and physical activity programs report intervention elements using the reach, effectiveness/efficacy, adoption, implementation, maintenance framework.Impact of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Warning Labels on Consumer Behaviors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
As a primary source of added sugars, sugar-sweetened beverage consumption contributes to obesity. This study systematically synthesizes the scientific evidence regarding the impact of sugar-sweetened beverage warning labels on consumer behaviors and intentions.Healthier Food and Beverage Interventions in Schools: Four Community Guide Systematic Reviews
Healthy eating during childhood is important for optimal growth and helps reduce the risk of obesity, which has potentially serious health consequences. Changing the school food environment may offer one way to improve students’ dietary intake. This manuscript reports 4 Community Guide systematic reviews examining the effectiveness of interventions in schools promoting healthy eating and weight.Complex Systems Approaches to Diet: A Systematic Review
Complex systems approaches can help to elucidate mechanisms that shape population-level patterns in diet and inform policy approaches. This study reports results of a structured review of key design elements and methods used by existing complex systems models of diet.The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Child Weight Status: A Review
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a food assistance program that helps Americans afford a healthy diet. However, its influence on children's weight status is unclear. This review examined the evidence of the relationship between SNAP participation and child weight.A Meta-Analysis of Food Labeling Effects on Consumer Diet Behaviors and Industry Practices
The influence of food and beverage labeling (food labeling) on consumer behaviors, industry responses, and health outcomes is not well established.Hot Food and Beverage Consumption and the Risk of Esophageal Cancer: A Meta-Analysis
Esophageal cancer is a neoplasm with a poor prognosis. Its two histologic subtypes, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), have been associated with different risk factors. The possibility of an association between the consumption of hot food and beverages and esophageal cancer, especially ESCC, has long been suspected, presenting a potentially modifiable risk factor. A meta-analysis of existing observational studies was performed to provide a quantitative estimate of the risk of esophageal cancer associated with the consumption of hot food and drink.Dietary Variety: An Overlooked Strategy for Obesity and Chronic Disease Control
The increased variety of energy-dense foods available in the U.S. has been implicated in the current obesity epidemic because greater food variety can amplify the pleasure associated with eating.1 Accordingly, U.S. public health recommendations regarding dietary variety have been tempered recently to accommodate changing food landscapes.2 In fact, limiting dietary variety has been recently explored as a strategy for promoting weight loss.3 Despite the presumed risks of promoting variety and expected benefits of limiting variety in some categories, little consensus exists in the epidemiologic evidence to support this recommendation.Dietary Quality of Americans by Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Participation Status: A Systematic Review
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is an effective component in reducing food insecurity in the U.S. In the discussion of strategies to also help SNAP participants maximize diet quality, it is important to know their current dietary patterns and food choices. This paper provides a systematic review of recent U.S. studies on dietary quality, food consumption, and spending among SNAP participants as compared to income-eligible and higher-income nonparticipants.The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Analysis of Program Administration and Food Law Definitions
Under the current version of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), participants can purchase virtually any food or beverage (collectively, food). Research indicates that SNAP recipients may have worse dietary quality than income-eligible nonparticipants. Policymakers have urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to pilot SNAP purchasing restrictions intended to support a healthier diet, and state legislators have proposed similar bills. The USDA rejected these invitations, stating that it would be administratively and logistically difficult to differentiate among products, amid other concerns.Is Vitamin B12 Deficiency a Risk Factor for Cardiovascular Disease in Vegetarians?
The goal of this paper is to describe the role of vitamin B12 deficiency in cardiovascular disease development among vegetarians. Vegetarians have a high prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency. Deficiency of this vitamin is associated with a variety of atherogenic processes that are mainly, but not exclusively, due to vitamin B12 deficiency–induced hyperhomocysteinemia. Each 5-μmol/L increase above 10 μmol/L of serum homocysteine is associated with a 20% increased risk of circulatory health problems.Technologies to Measure and Modify Physical Activity and Eating Environments
The explosion of technologic advances in information capture and delivery offers unparalleled opportunities to assess and modify built and social environments in ways that can positively impact health behaviors. This paper highlights some potentially transformative current and emerging trends in the technology arena applicable to environmental context−based assessment and intervention relevant to physical activity and dietary behaviors.Physical Activity and Food Environment Assessments: Implications for Practice
There is growing interest in the use of physical activity and nutrition environmental measures by both researchers and practitioners. Built environment assessment methods and tools range from simple to complex and encompass perceived, observed, and geographic data collection. Even though challenges in tool selection and use may exist for non-researchers, there are opportunities to incorporate these measures into practice. The aims of this paper are to (1) describe examples of built environment assessment methods and tools in the practice context; (2) present case studies that outline successful approaches for the use of built environment assessment tools and data among practitioners; and (3) make recommendations for both research and practice.Food and Physical Activity Environments: An Energy Balance Approach for Research and Practice
Increases in the prevalence of overweight and obesity are a function of chronic, population-level energy imbalance, whereby energy intakes exceed energy expenditures. Although sometimes viewed in isolation, energy intakes and expenditures in fact exist in a dynamic interplay: energy intakes may influence energy expenditures and vice versa. Obesogenic environments that promote positive energy balance play a central role in the obesity epidemic, and reducing obesity prevalence will require re-engineering environments to promote both healthy eating and physical activity.Food Companies' Calorie-Reduction Pledges to Improve U.S. Diet
Heretofore, corporate voluntary pledges to improve the health of Americans have been linked neither to explicit measurable commitments nor to a framework for an independent evaluation. The Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation (HWCF), whose members include 16 of the nation's leading consumer packaged goods food and beverage manufacturers, voluntarily pledged to collectively remove 1 trillion calories from their products by 2012 (against a 2007 baseline), and 1.5 trillion calories by 2015. The pledge is designed to reduce the calorie gap commensurate with the HWCF companies' role in the U.S.Reducing Portion Sizes to Prevent Obesity: A Call to Action
The prevalence of obesity shows no signs of decreasing in the U.S.1 Because it raises risks for chronic diseases and premature death, the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans2 state that this condition poses “the single greatest threat to public health in this century.” It seems evident that the current obesity epidemic is caused by an excess of calorie intake over expenditure encouraged by an environment that promotes excessive food intake and discourages physical activity. Restaurant foods, large portion sizes, and ubiquitous food, all heavily marketed, contribute to calorie overconsumption.Community-Engaged Interventions on Diet, Activity, and Weight Outcomes in U.S. Schools: A Systematic Review
Community engagement literature suggests that capacity-building approaches and community partnership in health intervention design, delivery, and analysis improve outcomes. School communities influence childhood diet and activity patterns affecting lifelong obesity risk. This systematic review's purpose is to assess whether incorporating community engagement principles in school-based interventions influences weight-related outcomes.Retail Grocery Store Marketing Strategies and Obesity: An Integrative Review
In-store food marketing can influence food-purchasing behaviors and warrants increased attention given the dramatic rise in obesity. Descriptive and experimental studies of key marketing components have been conducted by consumer scientists, marketing researchers, and public health experts. This review synthesizes research and publications from industry and academic sources and provides direction for developing and evaluating promising interventions.Obesogenic Environments in Youth: Concepts and Methods from a Longitudinal National Sample
To effectively prevent and reduce childhood obesity through healthy community design, it is essential to understand which neighborhood environment features influence weight gain in various age groups. However, most neighborhood environment research is cross-sectional, focuses on adults, and is often carried out in small, nongeneralizable geographic areas. Thus, there is a great need for longitudinal neighborhood environment research in diverse populations across the life cycle. This paper describes (1) insights and challenges of longitudinal neighborhood environment research and (2) advancements and remaining gaps in measurement and study design that examine individuals and neighborhoods within the context of the broader community.Objective Assessment of Obesogenic Environments in Youth: Geographic Information System Methods and Spatial Findings from the Neighborhood Impact on Kids Study
GIS-based walkability measures designed to explain active travel fail to capture “playability” and proximity to healthy food. These constructs should be considered when measuring potential child obesogenic environments.Fast Food and Obesity: A Spatial Analysis in a Large United Kingdom Population of Children Aged 13–15
The childhood obesity epidemic is a current public health priority in many countries, and the consumption of fast food has been associated with obesity.Obesogenic Neighborhood Environments, Child and Parent Obesity: The Neighborhood Impact on Kids Study
Identifying neighborhood environment attributes related to childhood obesity can inform environmental changes for obesity prevention.Patterns of Obesogenic Neighborhood Features and Adolescent Weight: A Comparison of Statistical Approaches
Few studies have addressed the potential influence of neighborhood characteristics on adolescent obesity risk, and findings have been inconsistent.Government and School Progress to Promote a Healthful Diet to American Children and Adolescents: A Comprehensive Review of the Available Evidence
The IOM released an expert committee report in 2005 that assessed the nature, extent, and influence of food and beverage marketing practices on American children's and adolescents' diets and health. The report concluded that prevailing marketing practices did not support a healthful diet and offered recommendations for diverse stakeholders to promote a healthful diet. The investigators evaluated progress for government and schools to achieve the IOM report recommendations over 5 years.Telephone-Delivered Interventions for Physical Activity and Dietary Behavior Change: An Updated Systematic Review
Telephone-delivered interventions targeting physical activity and dietary change have potential for broad population reach and thus have a role to play in addressing increasing rates of lifestyle-related chronic diseases. The purpose of this systematic review is to update the evidence for their potential to inform translation, including effectiveness in promoting maintenance, reporting on implementation, and costs.
