Pricing Strategies

RWJF Priority: Use pricing strategies—both incentives and disincentives—to promote the purchase of healthier foods

Prices can significantly affect family food choices and are emerging as an important strategy in the movement to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic. For example, when healthy foods like fruits and vegetables are more affordable, children are less likely to gain excess weight. And leading health authorities, including the Institute of Medicine, recommend new policies to reduce overconsumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, which are one of the top sources of calories in the American diet.

The resources below, from RWJF grantees and partners, explore the possible health and economic impacts of using pricing strategies to promote consumption of healthy foods and beverages and discourage consumption of unhealthy products.

Childhood Obesity Policy Priorities

Featured

A Penny-Per-Ounce Tax on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Could Have Big Impact

Such a tax could prevent unnecessary, potentially life-threatening conditions—and help avoid billions of dollars in medical costs over a decade—according to a recent study.

Read the study

From the Food Trust

Harnessing the Power of Supermarkets to Help Reverse Childhood Obesity

A report from The Food Trust examines in-store promotions and pricing strategies that may encourage people to buy healthier foods and beverages.

Read the report

From Bridging the Gap

Taxes on Soda and Snack Foods

Bridging the Gap (BTG) examines how changes in price affect consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. BTG also has the latest research about state-level taxes on snacks and sugar-sweetened beverages.

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More Research and Resources on Pricing Strategies

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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.

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.

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.

Philadelphia Project Works with Corner Stores to Improve Students' Snacking Choices

February 1, 2007 | Program Result Report

Staff at The Food Trust conducted a Corner Store Campaign to change the school and community environments to support healthy eating among children and adolescents.

SNAP to Health

July 1, 2012 | Report

A Fresh Approach to Strengthening the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

Faith & Food

August 4, 2011 | Program Result Report

The Center for Closing the Health Gap in Greater Cincinnati, in partnership with three Avondale neighborhood churches, mobilized a faith-based coalition to advance policies to improve the availability of healthy, affordable foods.

A National Grassroots Campaign for Healthier Food

May 23, 2011 | Program Result Report

From 2009 to 2010, Active Voice, San Francisco, organized Ingredients for Change, a nationwide grassroots campaign designed to spur public awareness and advocacy around healthy food, food justice and childhood obesity.

Relationship of Fruit and Vegetable Intake with Adiposity

July 14, 2010 | Journal Article

Studies are inconclusive whether increased fruit and vegetable consumption alone can reduce obesity.

Taxing Soft Drinks and Restricting Access to Vending Machines to Curb Child Obesity

April 1, 2010 | Journal Article

One of the largest drivers of the current obesity epidemic is thought to be excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages.

Mobile Food Vending and the After-School Food Environment

January 1, 2010 | Journal Article

This study observed the after-school food environment in an urban area in order to study the range of vendors encountered near schools and the items sold in the after-school period.