Higher potential exposure to anti-tobacco TV commercials is associated with higher odds of quitting or cutting back on smoking among young adults, found Sherry Emery, Glen Szczypka and University of Michigan colleagues. They found this relationship for a potential exposure of 104 to 155 anti-tobacco ads over a two-year period (averaging over four to six commercials a month). Their study appears in this month’s issue of Tobacco Control.
Teens are less likely to be overweight in more walkable communities, reported Sandy Slater and co-investigators in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Theirs is the first study based on data collected on the streets of communities in a national sample. More sidewalks and public transit were linked to less obesity. More sidewalks, traffic lights that featured pedestrian signals and marked crosswalks were associated with lower prevalence of overweight.
U.S. consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks decreased from 1999-2000 to 2007-2008, especially among children and adolescents, found Lisa Powell and Euna Han in an analysis of national nutritional survey data. Soda remains America’s favorite sugary drink, but its consumption decreased during this time. Among teens, the use of energy drinks or sports drinks tripled during this period. These findings were reported in Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
The price of Newport cigarettes was significantly lower in predominantly African-American neighborhoods than elsewhere, Frank Chaloupka and colleagues found in a 2011 analysis of almost 2,400 retail stores nationwide. This may help explain why the brand is the most popular among African-American youth, they wrote in a Bridging the Gap research brief. They also report that the price of Newport and Marlboro cigarettes increased as the percentage of Latino residents increased in a neighborhood, which may help explain why Latinos smoke less.
Promotions of toys with kids' meals, ads outside featuring cartoon characters or celebrities, and play areas are much more likely to be seen in fast-food restaurants in predominantly black neighborhoods than in racially diverse neighborhoods, Chaloupka and the Bridging the Gap team reported in another research brief.
IHRP in the Media
"If you develop a policy that only looks at soda in schools or a possible tax on sodas, you're going to miss out," Lisa Powell told Reuters. "If health promotion is our objective, it's important to understand the different patterns and how some people are substituting one drink for another across those patterns, and to target advertising and related efforts to those people."
“I have the opportunity to influence the policy process in a way I wasn’t able to do working in government. I can see the results of our work everywhere I turn,” Jamie Chriqui told UIC News.
