Increases in Sugary Drink Marketing During Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefit Issuance in New York.

Introduction: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest federal food assistance program, providing $67 billion in benefits to 44 million Americans. Some states distribute SNAP benefits over one or a few days each month, which may create an incentive for retailers to heavily promote top-selling products, like sugar-sweetened beverages, when benefits are disbursed.

Methods: A beverage environment scan assessing presence of displays, advertisements, and price promotions for sugar-sweetened, low-calorie, and unsweetened beverages was administered in a census of SNAP-authorized beverage retailers (n=630) in three cities in New York from September to November 2011.

By Ounce or By Calorie: The Differential Effects of Alternative Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax Strategies.

The obesity epidemic and excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages have led to proposals of economics-based interventions to promote healthy eating in the United States. Targeted food and beverage taxes and subsidies are prominent examples of such potential intervention strategies. This paper examines the differential effects of taxing sugar-sweetened beverages by calories and by ounces on beverage demand.

Evaluation of a communications campaign to increase physician reporting to a surveillance system.

While all states have regulations requiring reporting of diseases from healthcare professionals and facilities, underreporting is substantial. To improve reporting to the New York State (NYS) Occupational Lung Disease Registry (OLDR), the NYS Department of Health's Bureau of Occupational Health initiated a multimedia campaign to increase case ascertainment and establish communication channels and partnerships for conducting prevention. The outreach campaign was successful in raising physician awareness about the OLDR, familiarizing physicians with reporting forms and procedures, and increasing physician reporting.