Development and implementation of the guiding stars nutrition guidance program.

PURPOSE . To describe the collaborative process between a grocery retailer and a panel of nutrition experts used to develop a nutrition guidance system (Guiding Stars) that evaluates the nutrient profile of all edible products in the supermarket, and to report the results of the food and beverage ratings. DESIGN .

Guiding stars: the effect of a nutrition navigation program on consumer purchases at the supermarket.

Background: To improve diet quality and overall population health, the need to develop nutritional rating systems that are comprehensive in scope and easy for the consumer to understand and use at the point-of-purchase has emerged.

Objective: Our aim was to examine the effect of a comprehensive storewide supermarket point-of-purchase nutrition navigation intervention by using a shelf-label 3-tiered star icon on consumer food and beverage choices and their associated nutritional quality.

Design: By using a natural experiment design, purchasing data from 2006 to 2008 were obtained from a Northeast supermarket chain with 168 stores located in northern New England and New York and examined at preimplementation and at 1- and 2-y follow-up periods.

Reduced availability of sugar-sweetened beverages and diet soda has a limited impact on beverage consumption patterns in Maine high school youth.

Objective: To examine change in high school students' beverage consumption patterns pre- and post-intervention of reduced availability of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) and diet soda in school food venues.

Design: A prospective, quasi-experimental, nonrandomized study design.

Setting: Public high schools.

Implementation of low-fat, low-sugar, and portion-controlled nutrition guidelines in competitive food venues of Maine public high schools.

Background: The prevalence of childhood "overweight" and "at risk for overweight" has become a major public health concern. School food environments can affect key nutritional risk factors, especially in high schools where foods of poor nutrient value are pervasive in à la carte and vending programs. This study examines à la carte and vending programs in Maine public high schools at baseline and following implementation of low-fat (defined as items View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The vending and à la carte policy intervention in Maine public high schools.

Background: A healthy school nutrition environment may be important for decreasing childhood overweight. This article describes a project to make healthier snacks and beverages available in vending machines and à la carte programs in Maine public high schools.

Context: Seven public high schools in Maine volunteered to participate in this project.