Most public schools provided free drinking water to their students at lunchtime in compliance with a federal rule to fight obesity, found Lindsey Turner and Bridging the Gap colleagues. Students in some schools reported concerns about water quality and the cleanliness of drinking fountains, however.
Counter to concerns raised by the beverage industry, if soda taxes were implemented, overall employment would rise slightly, according to an economic model of the effects in Illinois and California by Lisa Powell and colleagues.
More than 84 percent of food and beverage ads seen by children, ages 2 to 11, on all TV programming were for products high in fat, sugar or salt, found Lisa Powell and colleagues. During children’s shows, the nutritional content of advertised products was worse.
Higher physical activity levels were found among more eighth-grade girls in states where laws mandate PE for a minimum amount of time every day or week than in states that don’t, found the Bridging the Gap research team.
Jidong Huang and colleagues found methodological flaws in the Food and Drug Administration's analysis of the effect graphic warning labels on cigarette packages would have on Americans — flaws that led to a gross underestimate of the impact of such a policy in the U.S.
An evaluation by Angela Odoms-Young and colleagues found 2009 changes to the federal food program modestly improved the eating behaviors of low-income mothers and their young children in the Chicago area.
Fewer than 10 percent of public elementary schools nationwide restrict high-calorie foods or drinks in classroom celebrations, Lindsey Turner and colleagues find.
Bridging the Gap researchers led by Lindsey Turner find that districts that address safe and active transportation are more likely to have “walking school buses.”
With funding from the National Institute on Aging, Naoko Muramatsu and colleagues are piloting a program to train home care aides to engage older adults in their care in physical activity.
The University of Illinois of Chicago aims to improve the health of older African Americans and Latinos by hiring five new faculty members to conduct interdisciplinary research in this area, hosting symposia and more.
