Examples of sample topics in research areas supported by the Healthy Eating Research program.  

  

 

The topics below provide just a few examples of possible studies. Studies should not be limited in any way to the following examples. We rely on researchers' creativity to generate innovative, solution-oriented environmental and policy research studies.

Food pricing and economic approaches 

Economic analyses of the costs of a healthy youth diet in a variety of settings (e.g., schools, communities, grocery stores) and/or socio-demographic groups.

Studies to test the differences in purchasing when prices of less healthy foods are increased versus when prices of healthier foods are reduced. How broad or narrow should the categories of food be for price reductions to have maximal impact? What would happen when both pricing approaches are used? Are the effects additive or synergistic? Can health/nutrition education be used in combination with pricing to influence purchasing so that less dramatic changes in price are needed to produce changes in purchasing?

Examining if incentive systems that are individualized and built into individual food store purchases can be developed, so that youth and families would get greater discounts if they purchased healthier foods.

Simulation models estimating the potential for affecting food consumption through taxes or subsidy changes.

Analysis of the economic or financial incentives and disincentives for influencing the market structure and product demand for healthy and unhealthy foods and motivating people to eat healthier foods.

Child-care or pre-school policies or environments

Comparative studies of state or local policies limiting foods and beverages sold or provided in child care and their impact on children and adolescent food consumption or weight status. Studies that take advantage of natural experiments are particularly encouraged.

Analysis of current policies and legislation related to foods provided or sold in child care settings.

School and after-school policies or environments

Comparative studies of state or local policies limiting foods and beverages sold or provided in schools and their impact on children and adolescent food consumption or weight status. Studies that take advantage of natural experiments are particularly encouraged.

Studies examining how much altering of unhealthy foods in schools or after-school settings affects diet quality in these settings and throughout the total day.

Analysis of current policies and legislation related to foods provided or sold in schools.

Food and agricultural policies

Analyses of the upstream macro-level determinants of food prices, including the effects of trade and agricultural policies (e.g., agricultural commodities and commodity farm prices) and food production and marketing costs.

Analyses that could inform revisions of and improvements to existing policies and programs, such as food assistance programs, including the extent to which these programs could possibly help prevent obesity and excess weight gain over time.

Food and beverage reformulation

Analyses assessing the extent to which industries have reformulated food and beverage products to respond to policy efforts (such as restaurant menu labeling).

Simulation studies estimating the potential impact of various reformulations on childhood obesity in various racial and ethnic, lower-income and other at-risk populations.

Food and beverage advertising and marketing

Observational studies of the extent and/or impact of marketing, advertising or promotion in different settings (schools, child care, grocery stores, communities) or directed at different populations (e.g., ethnic and racial minorities, lower- vs. high-income neighborhoods).

Secondary data analyses that link commercial data on advertising of healthy and unhealthy foods to data on food and beverage consumption or weight outcomes among children and youth in diverse populations.

Studies evaluating the impact of youth exposure to different types of food and beverage advertising and marketing, including counter-marketing campaigns or social marketing to promote healthy eating.

Evaluating the extent to which industry has implemented voluntary efforts to limit food and beverage marketing to children, as well as the actual or estimated impact of those efforts on children's diet quality, energy balance and/or body weight. 

Studies evaluating the effects of the changes of food and beverage industry practices

Analysis of legal or regulatory policy approaches to advertising and marketing aimed at children and adolescents.

Front-of-package labeling, menu labeling, and point-of-purchase prompts

Experimental studies altering the environment through replicable changes in one or more of the following: portion size, packaging, placement, promotion activities, point-of-purchase information, front-of-pack caloric labeling of foods or restaurant menu labeling.

Consumer research with children, adolescents and families on what front-of-package labeling system is most effective (e.g., traffic light system, a symbol or rating system).

Studies examining changes in front-of-package labeling or in-store promotions on food purchases or food consumption.

Small-scale evaluations of strategies to improve implementation of, or adherence to, potentially high-impact policies related to school nutrition, or restaurant menu labeling.

Conducting menu-labeling follow-up studies to assess purchasing changes or consumer behavior after the policy has been enacted for a time.

Improved access to healthy foods or reduced access to unhealthy foods in lower-income communities

Studies of policy/environmental interventions designed to alter children's food access and consumption in high-risk communities, including those that take advantage of natural experiments. 

Assessing health impacts following changes such as the introduction of new supermarkets or public policies to improve food access, or how much of a change in purchase and eating behaviors occurs in lower-income neighborhoods when food access improves.

Analysis of the modifiable determinants of current socio-demographic disparities in children's access to and consumption of healthy/unhealthy foods and strategies for altering these determinants (e.g., analysis of zoning codes and regulation policies in lower-income communities). 

Successful case studies of community-based partnerships in implementing retail grocery programs in underserved areas, or increasing access to healthy foods or limiting unhealthy foods in lower-income areas.

Improving access and marketing (price, product, placement, and promotion) of healthy foods and beverages in retail food stores, especially in “food deserts”

Analyses of the types of incentives and promotions needed to increase access to affordable and healthful foods and/or reduce access to calorie-dense, nutrient-poor foods in food outlets and grocery stores in lower-income areas.

Examining avenues for and barriers to increasing healthy food choices and/or reducing access to calorie-dense, nutrient-poor foods/beverages in small store settings (i.e., convenience stores, corner stores). This could include store infrastructure issues, storage capabilities, distribution systems available for accessing healthy foods, as well as storeowner’s knowledge, skills and/or perceptions. 

Test and evaluate creative in-store strategies to reduce purchase of products that are calorie-dense and nutrient-poor.

Successful case studies of community-based partnerships working with storeowners to improve healthy food availability in retail settings.

Promising food-related policy and environmental changes in settings where children and families make food choices

Examine strategies that reduce the purchase and consumption of foods and beverages that are calorie-dense and nutrient-poor.

Evaluating menu-labeling efforts in fast food restaurant chains and the best ways to change consumer’s behaviors to use calorie labeling information.

Evaluating calorie labeling or calorie information at the point of purchase in settings other than restaurants, such as middle or high school cafeterias, after-school settings or grocery stores.

Development of measures for studies of varied food environments, including studies of the sensitivity of existing measurement tools and audits of environmental and policy changes.

Studies of the information and related needs of policy-makers at the local, state and national levels related to current efforts to introduce or oppose policy changes to improve healthy eating and reduce obesity in children and youth. 

Rapid-Response Grants

Evaluations of the effects of policies that are about to be enacted, such as nutrition standards in child-care settings; district or state adoption of school nutrition standards for competitive foods; menu labeling in restaurants.

Analyses of the effects or likely effects of soda taxes under consideration to inform the policy debate.

Evaluations of the impact of environmental changes, such as a new supermarket opening in a lower-income neighborhood where none had existed. What types of foods are purchased in a new grocery store when it is introduced in a lower-income neighborhood? Are they healthy or unhealthy?

Studies of how school nutrition policies affect youth food- and beverage-purchasing behaviors and the resulting impact on student caloric intake. 

Small-scale evaluations of strategies to improve implementation of, or adherence to, potentially high-impact policies related to school nutrition, or restaurant menu labeling.

Cost-effectiveness and health impact assessments to inform the policy debate on promising national, state, community or institutional policy or environmental changes designed to promote healthy eating among youth and their families.

Conducting menu-labeling follow-up studies to assess purchasing changes or consumer behavior after the policy has been enacted for a time.