Program Areas

Childhood Obesity

Healthy Affordable Food

RWJF Priority: Increase access to high-quality, affordable foods through new or improved grocery stores and healthier corner stores and bodegas

Research shows that having a supermarket or grocery store in a neighborhood increases residents’ fruit and vegetable consumption and is associated with lower body mass index (BMI) among adolescents. Yet, many families do not have access to healthy affordable foods in their neighborhoods. This is especially true in lower-income communities, where convenience stores and fast-food restaurants are widespread, but supermarkets and farmers’ markets are scarce.

Childhood Obesity Policy Priorities

3 p.m. to Bedtime: Crunch Time for Children and Obesity

Crunch Time: Challenges and Solutions

Crunch Time: Challenges and Solutions

A poll reveals that many parents face a variety of barriers to helping their children lead healthy lives, especially during the "crunch time" from 3 p.m. to bedtime.

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More Research and Resources on Healthy Affordable Food

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Snacking in Children

November 1, 2009 | Journal Article

The easy availability of low-nutrition snacks may contribute to childhood obesity in minority and low-income communities.

Principles for Framing a Healthy Food System

July 1, 2009 | Journal Article

A healthy food system is one in which everyone has daily access to a diet that allows for a full life, that does not deplete natural resources and allows for a sustainable livelihood by those involved with all aspects of food production. The author suggests seven principles that could be used in moving the United States toward a markedly improved food system.

US-Based Food and Agricultural Value Chains and Their Relevance to Healthy Diets

July 1, 2009 | Journal Article

A Global Value Chain (GVC) analysis examines the structure of food production and consumption systems and identifies leverage points that can bring change at a structural level. This article applies the GVC framework to two food value chains—chicken and tomatoes—to gain insights into the contemporary dynamics of food supply chains and their implications for healthy diets.

Affordability and Obesity

July 1, 2009 | Journal Article

This article examines the relationship between obesity and the affordability of food. While some argue that the availability of certain types of foods has a causal effect on obesity, there is little definitive data supporting this claim.

Measures of the Food Environment

April 1, 2009 | Journal Article

This article reviews the relatively new body of research on the food environment, offering a systematic effort to examine its findings and advance the field.

Measuring the Food Environment

April 1, 2009 | Journal Article

This article examines challenges of measurement in the field of food environment research. This relatively young field has not yet fully addressed psychometric measurement issues, the interaction of social, individual, and environmental factors, and the large scale of data produced from food environment studies.

Neighborhood Environments

January 1, 2009 | Journal Article

The availability of fresh produce and other healthy food options is better in higher-income and white neighborhoods. Complex relationships exist between dietary patterns, demographics and health. These relationships must be explored for the purpose of developing responsive health policy.

Healthy Eating by Design

January 1, 2009 | Program Result Report

Healthy Eating by Design increased access to healthy foods for children in low-income communities and schools from 2005 to 2007.