Topic: Healthy Eating

Strategy Report: Sugary Drink Excise Tax: 2 Cents per Ounce

Posted on June 6, 2024

Mom and young daughter drinking glasses of water

The information provided here is intended to be used for educational purposes. Links to other resources and websites are intended to provide additional information aligned with this educational purpose.

Overview

CHOICES uses cost-effectiveness analysis to compare the costs and outcomes of different policies and programs promoting improved nutrition or increased physical activity in schools, early care and education and out-of-school settings, communities, and clinics. This strategy report describes the projected national population reach, impact on health and health equity, implementation costs, and cost-effectiveness for an effective strategy to improve child health. This information can help inform decision-making around promoting healthy weight. To explore and compare additional strategies, visit the CHOICES National Action Kit 2.0.

Continue reading in the full report.

Contact choicesproject@hsph.harvard.edu with any accessibility questions.

Suggested Citation

Barrett JL, McCulloch SM, Cradock AL, Gortmaker SL. CHOICES National Action Kit: Sugary Drink Excise Tax: 2 Cents per Ounce Strategy Report. CHOICES Project Team at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA; May 2024.

Acknowledgments

We thank the following members of the CHOICES Project team for their contributions: Molly Garrone, Dar Alon, Banapsha Rahman, Ya Xuan Sun, Amy Bolton, Jenny Reiner, Matt Lee, Zach Ward.

Funding

This work is supported by the National Institutes of Health (R01HL146625), The JPB Foundation, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U48DP006376). The findings and conclusions are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or other funders. The information provided here is intended to be used for educational purposes. Links to other resources and websites are intended to provide additional information aligned with this educational purpose

For further information, contact choicesproject@hsph.harvard.edu

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Strategy Report: Improved WIC Food Package for 1-4-Year-Olds (2009)

Posted on May 20, 2024

The information provided here is intended to be used for educational purposes. Links to other resources and websites are intended to provide additional information aligned with this educational purpose.

Overview

CHOICES uses cost-effectiveness analysis to compare the costs and outcomes of different policies and programs promoting improved nutrition or increased physical activity in schools, early care and education and out-of-school settings, communities, and clinics. This strategy report describes the projected national population reach, impact on health and health equity, implementation costs, and cost-effectiveness for an effective strategy to improve child health. This information can help inform decision-making around promoting healthy weight. To explore and compare additional strategies, visit the CHOICES National Action Kit 2.0.

Continue reading in the full report.

Contact choicesproject@hsph.harvard.edu with any accessibility questions.

Suggested Citation

Barrett JL, Kenney EL, Cradock AL, Gortmaker SL. CHOICES National Action Kit: Improved WIC Food Package for 1-4-Year-Olds (2009) Strategy Report. CHOICES Project Team at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA; May 2024.

Acknowledgments

We thank the following members of the CHOICES Project team for their contributions: Molly Garrone, Matt Lee, Zach Ward, Stephanie McCulloch.

Funding

This work is supported by the National Institutes of Health (R01HL146625), The JPB Foundation, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U48DP006376). The findings and conclusions are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or other funders. The information provided here is intended to be used for educational purposes. Links to other resources and websites are intended to provide additional information aligned with this educational purpose

For further information, contact choicesproject@hsph.harvard.edu

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Coffee Chat: Advancing Equitable Access to Improved Nutrition: Evidence and Policy

Posted on April 30, 2024

Advancing Equitable Access to Improved Nutrition: Evidence and Policy

In this coffee chat hosted by the CHOICES Community of Practice, Sara Bleich, Professor of Public Health Policy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and inaugural Vice Provost for Special Projects at Harvard University and Steve Gortmaker, Professor of the Practice of Health Sociology, Director of the Prevention Research Center on Nutrition and Physical Activity, and Director and Co-Principal Investigator of the CHOICES Project at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health shared evidence about cost-effective, population-level nutrition policies that have been shown to prevent obesity and improve health equity as well as updates about implementation.

View the resource round-up from this coffee chat

Download the April 2024 coffee chat presentation slides

Disclaimer: Our guest speakers share their own perspectives and do not speak for Harvard.

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Coffee Chat: State & Local Policies for Incorporating Added-Sugar Warning Labels on Restaurant Menus

Posted on March 28, 2024

State and Local Policies for Incorporating Added-Sugar Warning Labels on Restaurant Menus

In this coffee chat hosted by the CHOICES Community of Practice, DeAnna Nara, Senior Policy Associate at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, explored strategies to incorporate added-sugar warning labels into restaurant menus to reduce added sugar consumption and shared resources to support practitioners at the state and local levels with this work.

View the resource round-up from this coffee chat

Download the March 2024 coffee chat presentation slides

Disclaimer: Our guest speakers share their own perspectives and do not speak for Harvard.

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Strategy Profile: Improved WIC Food Package for 1-4-Year-Olds (2009)

Posted on March 27, 2024

The information in this resource is intended only to provide educational information. This profile describes the estimated benefits, activities, resources, and leadership needed to implement a strategy to improve child health. This information can be useful for planning and prioritization purposes.

  • Implementing the 2009 changes to the Special Supplemental Nutrition program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) food package for children (ages 1-4 years) to better align with dietary guidelines.

What population benefits?

Children ages 2-4 who participate in the WIC program.

What are the estimated benefits?

Relative to not implementing the strategy
Promote healthy child weight.

What activities and resources are needed?

Activities Resources Who Leads?
Oversee WIC food package change activities at the federal level • Time for National WIC Project Officer to oversee and manage the food package change National WIC Project Officer
Oversee and manage the food package change in each state • Time for state WIC agency program staff to oversee and manage the food package change, including communicating the changes to WIC-eligible retailers and providing technical assistance to local WIC agencies State WIC Program Staff
Update and maintain state information management systems • Time for state database administrator to update and maintain the state’s information management system to reflect food package changes State WIC Agency Database Administrator
Update retail store space, products, shelf tags, and equipment • Cost to print and install shelf tags for grocery items that changed WIC eligibility due to the food package change
• Time for store managers at small stores to reorganize shelf space to allocate space for WIC-eligible products
• Cost of refrigeration equipment at small stores that require new refrigeration equipment to store newly WIC-eligible products
• Time for store managers at small stores to add and acquire new products that meet WIC eligibility		 WIC-approved Retailers
Train store managers and employees in all WIC-eligible stores on the food package changes • Time for store managers to attend trainings held by state WIC offices, set up systems in the store to ring up new WIC-eligible items, and answer questions from store employees
• Time for store employees to attend trainings		 State WIC Program Staff
Communicate information about the food package changes to consumers in stores • Production costs for in-store communication materials (posters, fliers) about the food package change National WIC Project Officer

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Kenney EL, Lee MM, Barrett JL, Ward ZJ, Long MW, Cradock AL, Williams DR, Gortmaker SL. Cost-effectiveness of improved WIC food package for preventing childhood obesity. Pediatrics. 2024 Jan 1;153(2):e2023063182. doi: 10.1542/peds.2023-063182.

Suggested Citation

CHOICES Strategy Profile: Improved WIC Food Package for 1-4-Year-Olds (2009). CHOICES Project Team at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA; March 2024.

Funding

This work is supported by The JPB Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U48DP006376). The information provided here is intended to be used for educational purposes. Links to other resources and websites are intended to provide additional information aligned with this educational purpose. The findings and conclusions are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or other funders.

Adapted from the TIDieR (Template for Intervention Description and Replication) Checklist

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Coffee Chat: Exploring the Health Equity Benefits of Sugary Drink Excise Taxes

Posted on January 25, 2024

In this coffee chat hosted by the CHOICES Community of Practice, Matthew Lee, PhD Candidate from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and California native who has researched sugary drink trends and the impacts of sugary drink excise taxes in the San Francisco Bay Area, discusses insights from his recent study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine that he led along with other researchers from the CHOICES Team. Matt also focuses on the ways in which these taxes, and the potential revenue raised from them, can benefit communities by improving health equity.

View the resource round-up from this coffee chat

Download the January 2024 coffee chat presentation slides

Disclaimer: Our guest speakers share their own perspectives and do not speak for Harvard.

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Cost-effectiveness of Improved WIC Food Package for Preventing Childhood Obesity

Posted on January 23, 2024

This study determines the cost-effectiveness of changes to WIC’s nutrition standards in 2009 for preventing obesity and to estimate impacts on socioeconomic and racial/ethnic inequities.

Kenney EL, Lee MM, Barrett JL, Ward ZJ, Long MW, Cradock AL, Williams DR, Gortmaker SL. Cost-effectiveness of Improved WIC Food Package for Preventing Childhood Obesity. Pediatrics. 2024 Jan;153. doi: 10.1542/peds.2023-063182.

Abstract

Background & Objectives

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) prevents food insecurity and supports nutrition for more than 3 million low-income young children. Our objectives were to determine the cost-effectiveness of changes to WIC’s nutrition standards in 2009 for preventing obesity and to estimate impacts on socioeconomic and racial/ethnic inequities.

Methods

We conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis to estimate impacts from 2010 through 2019 of the 2009 WIC food package change on obesity risk for children aged 2 to 4 years participating in WIC. Microsimulation models estimated the cases of obesity prevented in 2019 and costs per quality-adjusted-life year gained.

Results

An estimated 14.0 million 2- to 4-year old US children (95% uncertainty interval (UI), 13.7–14.2 million) were reached by the updated WIC nutrition standards from 2010 through 2019. In 2019, an estimated 62 700 (95% UI, 53 900–71 100) cases of childhood obesity were prevented, entirely among children from households with low incomes, leading to improved health equity. The update was estimated to cost $10 600 per quality-adjusted-life year gained (95% UI, $9760–$11 700). If WIC had reached all eligible children, more than twice as many cases of childhood obesity would have been prevented.

Conclusions

Updates to WIC’s nutrition standards for young children in 2009 were estimated to be highly cost-effective for preventing childhood obesity and contributed to reducing socioeconomic and racial/ethnic inequities in obesity prevalence. Improving nutrition policies for young children can be a sound public health investment; future research should explore how to improve access to them.

Funding

This study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (R01HL146625 and K01DK125278), The JPB Foundation, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U48DP006376). The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose. The findings and conclusions are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or other funders.

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Strategy Report: New Opportunities for Healthy Afterschool Programs

Posted on December 20, 2023

The information provided here is intended to be used for educational purposes. Links to other resources and websites are intended to provide additional information aligned with this educational purpose.

Overview

CHOICES uses cost-effectiveness analysis to compare the costs and outcomes of different policies and programs promoting improved nutrition or increased physical activity in schools, early care and education and out-of-school settings, communities, and clinics. This strategy report describes the projected national population reach, impact on health and health equity, implementation costs, and cost-effectiveness for an effective strategy to improve child health. This information can help inform decision-making around promoting healthy weight. To explore and compare additional strategies, visit the CHOICES National Action Kit 2.0.

Continue reading in the full report.

Contact choicesproject@hsph.harvard.edu with any accessibility questions.

Suggested Citation

CHOICES National Action Kit: New Opportunities for Healthy Afterschool Programs Strategy Report. CHOICES Project Team at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA; December 2023.

Acknowledgments

We thank the following members of the CHOICES Project team for their contributions: Molly Garrone, Dar Alon, Stella Zhu, Shilpi Agarwal, Ana Paula Bonner Septien, Stephanie McCulloch, Jenny Reiner, Matt Lee, Zach Ward.

Funding

This work is supported by the National Institutes of Health (R01HL146625), The JPB Foundation, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U48DP006376). The findings and conclusions are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or other funders. The information provided here is intended to be used for educational purposes. Links to other resources and websites are intended to provide additional information aligned with this educational purpose

For further information, contact choicesproject@hsph.harvard.edu

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Strategy Report: Fast-Food Restaurant Calorie Labeling (2018)

Posted on December 19, 2023

Fast-food restaurant menu board with calories labeled for each menu item

The information provided here is intended to be used for educational purposes. Links to other resources and websites are intended to provide additional information aligned with this educational purpose.

Overview

CHOICES uses cost-effectiveness analysis to compare the costs and outcomes of different policies and programs promoting improved nutrition or increased physical activity in schools, early care and education and out-of-school settings, communities, and clinics. This strategy report describes the projected national population reach, impact on health and health equity, implementation costs, and cost-effectiveness for an effective strategy to improve child health. This information can help inform decision-making around promoting healthy weight. To explore and compare additional strategies, visit the CHOICES National Action Kit 2.0.

Continue reading in the full report.

Contact choicesproject@hsph.harvard.edu with any accessibility questions.

Suggested Citation

CHOICES National Action Kit: Fast-Food Restaurant Calorie Labeling (2018) Strategy Report. CHOICES Project Team at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA; December 2023.

Acknowledgments

We thank the following members of the CHOICES Project team for their contributions: Molly Garrone, Stephanie McCulloch, Matt Lee, Zach Ward. We thank Jason Block at the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Harvard Medical School, for his guidance, leadership, and expertise on calorie labeling.

Funding

This work is supported by the National Institutes of Health (R01HL146625), The JPB Foundation, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U48DP006376). The findings and conclusions are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or other funders. The information provided here is intended to be used for educational purposes. Links to other resources and websites are intended to provide additional information aligned with this educational purpose

For further information, contact choicesproject@hsph.harvard.edu

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Strategy Report: Creating Healthier Early Care and Education Environments

Posted on December 19, 2023

The information provided here is intended to be used for educational purposes. Links to other resources and websites are intended to provide additional information aligned with this educational purpose.

Overview

CHOICES uses cost-effectiveness analysis to compare the costs and outcomes of different policies and programs promoting improved nutrition or increased physical activity in schools, early care and education and out-of-school settings, communities, and clinics. This strategy report describes the projected national population reach, impact on health and health equity, implementation costs, and cost-effectiveness for an effective strategy to improve child health. This information can help inform decision-making around promoting healthy weight. To explore and compare additional strategies, visit the CHOICES National Action Kit 2.0.

Continue reading in the full report.

Contact choicesproject@hsph.harvard.edu with any accessibility questions.

Suggested Citation

Barrett JL, Bolton AA, Gortmaker SL, Cradock AL. CHOICES National Action Kit: Creating Healthier Early Care and Education Environments Strategy Report. CHOICES Project Team at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA; December 2023.

Acknowledgments

We thank the following members of the CHOICES Project team for their contributions: Molly Garrone, Dar Alon, Stella Zhu, Shilpi Agarwal, Ana Paula Bonner Septien, Stephanie McCulloch, Jenny Reiner, Matt Lee, Zach Ward.

Funding

This work is supported by the National Institutes of Health (R01HL146625), The JPB Foundation, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U48DP006376). The findings and conclusions are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or other funders. The information provided here is intended to be used for educational purposes. Links to other resources and websites are intended to provide additional information aligned with this educational purpose

For further information, contact choicesproject@hsph.harvard.edu

← Back to Resources