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Childhood Obesity Most Influential Articles
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It's been two years since the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation announced that it would award $500 million in grants to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic by 2015. To accomplish our goal, we are building the evidence about the problem and what interventions work, as well as turning the evidence into action.
After conducting a thorough literature search and consulting with childhood obesity experts, we selected 20 recently published articles that we believe have the potential to influence the field in the coming years. Some of these articles were funded by the Foundation and some were funded by other organizations. This list of recent Childhood Obesity Research is only a small slice of the interdisciplinary work that has been published in peer-reviewed journals from January 2008 through April 2009. This recent work builds on articles published before 2008.
This summer, we want to know what you think. Below are 20 articles that we believe had a major policy impact, affected our work and thinking, or warranted our attention, due to our effort to advance the research and knowledge base for childhood obesity prevention. Please choose up to five (5) articles you think best meet those criteria. We will publish the voting results in mid-July. Voting ends July 10, so vote now.
Article 1
Measures of the Food Environment: A Compilation of the Literature, 1990-2007
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.
Article 2
Public Health Interventions for Addressing Childhood Overweight: Analysis of the Business Case
This business case reviews childhood overweight interventions and the appropriateness of using expectation of return on investment to create interventions targeted at children.
Article 3
Associations of the Local Food Environment with Diet Quality--A Comparison of Assessments Based on Surveys and Geographic Information Systems: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis
To better understand the food environment, researchers investigated the relationship between two global diet measures and three local food environment measures: supermarket density, participant-reported assessments and aggregated survey responses of independent informants.
Article 4
Fast-Food Restaurant Advertising on Television and its Influence on Childhood Obesity
Using the 1979 Child-Young Adult National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, researchers estimate the effect of fast-food restaurant television advertising on children and adolescents and being overweight.
Article 5
Creating Healthy Food and Eating Environments: Policy and Environmental Approaches
This article reviews the literature on food environments and conditions that influence food choices.
Article 6
Influences of Physical and Social Neighborhood Environments on Children's Physical Activity and Obesity
This article examines how the physical and social neighborhood environments where fifth graders live and play affect their levels of physical activity and obesity rates.
Article 7
Proximity of Fast-food Restaurants to Schools and Adolescent Obesity
This article examines the relationship between the proximity of fast-food restaurants to schools and children's eating patterns and weight.
Article 8
Food Prices and Obesity: Evidence and Policy Implications for Taxes and Subsidies
This article examines whether increasing the price of unhealthy foods can change patterns of food consumption and individual weight outcomes.
Article 9
Measuring the Built Environment for Physical Activity: State of the Science
This article evaluates three approaches used to measure the impact of the built environment on physical activity.
Article 10
Is Support for Traditionally Designed Communities Growing? Evidence from Two National Surveys
Public support for traditionally designed communities increased between 2003 and 2005. In contrast to suburban development, traditionally designed communities offer environmental and health benefits.
Article 11
High Body Mass Index for Age Among US Children and Adolescents, 2003-2006
This study estimates the prevalence of three measures of high body mass index (BMI) and examines trends of overweight among U.S. children and adolescents between 2003 and 2006.
Article 12
Child Care as an Untapped Setting for Obesity Prevention: State Child Care Licensing Regulations Related to Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Media Use for Preschool-Aged Children in the United States
In addressing the obesity epidemic, the authors examine state policies relating to children's diet and screen exposure in different child-care organizations across the United States.
Article 13
Legal and Public Health Considerations Affecting the Success, Reach, and Impact of Menu-Labeling Laws
Nutrition labels on restaurant menus are a strategy to inform consumers and address the issue of obesity. This article provides ways in which public health laws focusing on menu-labeling can be written and defended against challenges.
Article 14
The Context for Choice: Health Implications of Targeted Food and Beverage Marketing to African Americans
Targeted marketing of high-calorie foods and beverages to ethnic minority populations may contribute to ethnic disparities in obesity and other diet-related chronic conditions.
Article 15
Association between School Food Environment and Practices and Body Mass Index of US Public School Children
Results from the third School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study (SNDA-III) enable researchers to identify specific components of the school food environment that contribute to child obesity.
Article 16
Arkansas Act 1220 of 2003 to Reduce Childhood Obesity: Its Implementation and Impact on Child and Adolescent Body Mass Index
This assessment of an early comprehensive piece of legislation to fight childhood obesity shows the weight status of Arkansas children may have stabilized, and positive policy changes should support ongoing improvement, but implementing the act's intent faces ongoing challenges.
Article 17
Increasing Caloric Contribution from Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and 100% Fruit Juices Among US Children and Adolescents, 1988-2004
From 1988 to 2004, consumption rates and caloric contributions from sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and fruit juices significantly increased among American youth.
Article 18
Marketing of Foods of Minimal Nutritional Value to Children in Schools
This nationally representative survey measures both the nature and extent of corporate-sponsored food marketing activities in U.S. public schools.
Article 19
A Randomized Trial of the Effects of Reducing Television Viewing and Computer Use on Body Mass Index in Young Children
This randomized controlled clinical trial assesses the effects of reductions in television viewing and computer use on the body mass index (BMI) of children
Article 20
Cost Effectiveness of Community-Based Physical Activity Interventions
Seven interventions that promote physical activity are cost-effective and have a significant impact on quality of life and health.
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