The Effect of State Competitive Food and Beverage Regulations on Childhood Overweight and Obesity.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Policy efforts for combating childhood obesity have sought stronger state policies for regulating competitive foods and beverages (CF&Bs) available in schools. However, the evidence linking state policies to children's overall diet and body weight outcomes is limited and mixed, and experts have called for more rigorous studies that are able to address concerns about selection bias. The present study leverages a rare natural experiment where children in military families are "assigned" to different state policies, due to their military parent's periodic relocation, to examine whether state CF&B policies were associated with children's body mass index (BMI) and overweight or obesity.

Methods

We analyzed data from 894 children (12-13 years old) in army families attendin

SUBMITTER: Datar A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5401783 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature