State Wellness Policy Requirement Laws Matter for District Wellness Policy Comprehensiveness and Wellness Policy Implementation in the United States.

Beginning with the school year 2006-2007, U.S. school districts participating in the federal Child Nutrition Programs were required to adopt and implement a local wellness policy (LWP) that included goals and/or standards for nutrition education, school meals, other foods sold or served in schools, and physical activity.

A pilot examination of the inter-rater reliability of the 18-item Household Food Security Module between cohabiting mothers and fathers.

Food insecurity, defined as the inability to access sufficient food for an active, healthy life, affects 11.1% of the US population and is primarily assessed using the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) 18-item Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM). The HFSSM is a self-report measure presumed to represent all household members, but it is unknown if cohabiting parents report food security differently.

Are Nutrition Standards for Beverages in Schools Associated with Healthier Beverage Intakes among Adolescents in the US?

Under the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Smart Snacks in School standards, beverages sold in schools are restricted to water, flavored or unflavored non-fat milk or unflavored low-fat milk (and milk alternatives), and 100% fruit and vegetable juices; and, at the high school level, diet (≤10 kcal), low-calorie (≤60 kcal), and caffeinated beverages may also be sold.

Association between Nutrition Policies and Student Body Mass Index.

In response to concerns about childhood obesity, many US states have implemented policies to limit the sale of unhealthy foods and beverages (e.g., snacks, desserts, and sugary drinks) sold in competition with school meal programs (i.

Food pantries select healthier foods after nutrition information is available on their food bank's ordering platform.

Objective: In the USA, community-based food pantries provide free groceries to people struggling with food insecurity. Many pantries obtain food from regional food banks using an online shopping platform. A food bank introduced a visible nutrition rank (i.

Parental Contributors to the Prevalence and Long-term Health Risks of Family Weight Teasing in Adolescence.

Purpose: Weight teasing from family members is common during adolescence. However, little is known about parental factors that increase adolescents' risk for family weight teasing and its adverse health sequelae. Using multi-informant data from adolescents, mothers and fathers, the current longitudinal study examined how parental concerns about their child's weight and their own weight contribute to family weight teasing in adolescence and its long-term health consequences.

The hunger-obesity paradox: Exploring food banking system characteristics and obesity inequities among food-insecure pantry clients.

Purpose: Heightened obesity risk among food-insecure food pantry clients is a health equity issue because the co-occurrence of obesity and hunger is deeply-rooted in systematic social disadvantage and historical oppression. This qualitative study examined key stakeholders' perspectives of the relationship between the U.S.

Weight Stigma in Youth: Prevalence, Consequences, and Considerations for Clinical Practice.

Purpose Of Review: This review summarizes recent evidence on weight stigma experienced by youth with overweight or obesity. We examine the prevalence and sources of weight-based victimization targeting youth, consequences of these stigmatizing experiences for their psychological and physical health, and considerations for addressing weight stigma in clinical practice and pediatric care.

Recent Findings: Weight stigma is highly prevalent among youth with high body weight, who are targets of weight-based victimization from peers, parents, and teachers.

Meal Quality of Entrées That Can Be Sold as Competitive Foods in Schools and Potential Impact of the Proposed USDA Rollbacks.

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act strengthened competitive food standards (i.e., Smart Snacks), but an exemption allows reimbursable meal entrées that do not meet Smart Snack standards to be sold as "competitive entrées" on the same day they are served in the reimbursable meal, and the following day.

Racial Differences in Perceived Food Swamp and Food Desert Exposure and Disparities in Self-Reported Dietary Habits.

Both food swamps and food deserts have been associated with racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in obesity rates. Little is known about how the distribution of food deserts and food swamps relate to disparities in self-reported dietary habits, and health status, particularly for historically marginalized groups. In a national U.

Weight Stigma as a Predictor of Distress and Maladaptive Eating Behaviors During COVID-19: Longitudinal Findings From the EAT Study.

Background: Weight stigma is common for people with obesity and harmful to health. Links between obesity and complications from COVID-19 have been identified, but it is unknown whether weight stigma poses adverse health implications during this pandemic.

Purpose: We examined longitudinal associations between prepandemic experiences of weight stigma and eating behaviors, psychological distress, and physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic in a diverse sample of emerging adults.

"Bridging, brokering, and buffering": a theoretical exploration of school leaders' engagement with local school wellness policy implementation.

Background: The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-296) prompted the expansion of federal requirements for local school wellness policies, which aim to improve health promoting practices across school districts in the USA.

Food marketing to children in the United States: Can industry voluntarily do the right thing for children's health?

Food marketing is a major contributor to high rates of obesity and diet-related disease among children. Researchers, advocates, and policymakers have called for improvements in the nutrition quality of foods marketed to children to improve children's health. In the United States, for over 10 years, the food and beverage industry has responded with self-regulatory initiatives, touting the success of these efforts.

At multiple fronts: Diabetes stigma and weight stigma in adults with type 2 diabetes.

Aim: The diabetes and obesity fields have called for attention to the harmful role of stigma in obesity and diabetes, especially given that little is known about the extent and nature of diabetes stigma facing adults with type 2 diabetes, or the experience of weight stigma in this population. This study addresses this research gap by examining the prevalence and demographic correlates of weight stigma and diabetes stigma in individuals with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: Adults (N = 1212, M  = 52) with type 2 diabetes living in the USA were recruited by a healthcare-oriented market research firm, and completed online questionnaires to assess their experiences with weight stigma and diabetes stigma, as well as their internalization of both forms of stigma.

Wellness School Assessment Tool Version 3.0: An Updated Quantitative Measure of Written School Wellness Policies.

Schools play an important role in promoting student wellness. As directed by the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, the US Department of Agriculture updated the requirements for written school wellness policies in 2016. The WellSAT (Wellness School Assessment Tool) is an online tool that provides a quantitative score for wellness policy comprehensiveness and strength.

Gay-Straight Alliances: A Mechanism of Health Risk Reduction Among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Adolescents.

Introduction: Adolescents who identify as a sexual or gender minority are vulnerable to multiple health disparities because of stigma-based peer harassment. Given that sexual and gender minority adolescents may be bullied for several stigmatized identities that may exacerbate health risk, it is important to examine factors that can simultaneously reduce multiple forms of targeted victimization among sexual and gender minority adolescents. This study examines whether variation in health risk across sexual and gender minority adolescents who attend schools with versus without a gay-straight alliance can be explained by lessened bias-based bullying across a broad scope of stigmatized identities and attributes.

Coping with Weight Stigma Among Adults in a Commercial Weight Management Sample.

Background: Coping responses to weight stigma can adversely affect health. Using data from a large commercial weight management sample, this study examined how adults cope with weight stigma, relationships among experienced weight stigma, weight bias internalization, and coping, as well as coping strategies as mediators of the stigma-health relationship.

Method: Participants were adults enrolled in WW (formerly Weight Watchers) who reported at least one lifetime experience of weight stigma (N = 11,924).

Experiences of weight stigma and links with self-compassion among a population-based sample of young adults from diverse ethnic/racial and socio-economic backgrounds.

Objective: This study examines weight stigma experiences in a population-based sample of young adults from diverse ethnic/racial and socio-economic backgrounds, and explores cross-sectional associations between weight stigma and self-compassion, including gender differences in this relationship.

Methods: Data come from EAT 2018, a population-based study of weight and related behaviors in young adults (N = 1523, mean age = 22 years, 53.5% females).

Effects of United States WIC infant formula contracts on brand sales of infant formula and toddler milks.

The United States (US) Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides free infant formula to low-income families with infants. State WIC agencies periodically solicit bids from manufacturers for the exclusive contract to provide infant formula in exchange for considerable rebates. Using Nielsen 2006-2015 retail scanner data, we estimated a difference-in-difference model to examine how winning a WIC infant formula contract affects sales of the new (winning) and former brands, including effects on sales of products not eligible for WIC (spillover).

Food and beverage marketing in schools: school superintendents' perspectives and practices after the healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.

Objective: Children are surrounded by ubiquitous forms of unhealthy food marketing at home and in schools. The US Department of Agriculture now restricts food and beverage marketing that does not meet Smart Snacks in School standards. School superintendents, as districts' top administrators, play a critical role in ensuring marketing policies are implemented and adhered to; however, there is limited research involving this stakeholder group.

Weight Stigma and Weight-Related Health: Associations of Self-Report Measures Among Adults in Weight Management.

Background: Weight stigma impairs health. Few studies have disentangled the associations of experienced versus internalized stigma with weight-related outcomes.

Purpose: To examine weight and health variables associated with weight stigma experiences and internalization in the largest-to-date sample of adults in weight management.

The Relationship between Written District Policies and School Practices among High-Need Districts in New York State.

Background: This study tested the hypothesis that written district wellness policies are associated with higher rates of implementation of nutrition and physical activity practices.

Methods: Written wellness policies and building level practices were assessed for schools (N = 295) within high-need districts (N = 70) in New York State. The relationship between policies and practices was measured using multi-level mixed-effects logistic regressions.

Infant formula and toddler milk marketing and caregiver's provision to young children.

The World Health Organization International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes prohibits claims and other marketing that may confuse caregivers about benefits of formula and other milk-based drinks for infants and toddlers, but such marketing is common in the United States. This study assessed caregivers' provision of milk-based products to their infants and toddlers and potential confusion about product benefits and appropriate use. Online survey of 1,645 U.

What words should we use to talk about weight? A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies examining preferences for weight-related terminology.

Evidence of weight stigma and its harmful consequences have led to increased attention to the words that are used to talk about obesity and body weight, including calls for efforts to carefully consider weight-related terminology and promote respectful language in the obesity and medical fields. Despite increased research studies examining people's preferences for specific words that describe body weight, there has been no systematic review to synthesize existing evidence on perceptions of and preferences for weight-related terminology. To address this gap, the current systematic review identified 33 studies (23 quantitative, 10 qualitative) that examined people's preferences for weight-related terminology in the current research literature (from 1999 to 2019).

US toddler milk sales and associations with marketing practices.

Objective: Extensive marketing of 'toddler milks' (sugar-sweetened milk-based drinks for toddlers) promotes unsubstantiated product benefits and raises concerns about consumption by young children. The present study documents trends in US toddler milk sales and assesses relationships with brand and category marketing.

Design: We report annual US toddler milk and infant formula sales and marketing from 2006 to 2015.