Recent research by UNCFRP team members and UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health researchers finds evidence of a decline in U.S. children’s reported energy intake in the early 2000s that is consistent with the previously identified obesity plateau that occurred in children in the early 2000s. It’s not all good news, though: the team […]
Study by Dalia Stern highlights impact of Caloric Beverages in Mexico
A new study by Dalia Stern found that caloric beverages were a main source of energy (calories) for children and adults in Mexico between 1999-2012. The study was first published online in The Journal of Nutrition April 17, and findings are being highlighted by the Gillings School of Global Public Health. Mexico has some of […]
Jennifer Poti awarded 2014 Impact Award
Jennifer Poti, PhD student and UNC Food Research Program team member, was awarded a 2014 Impact Award by the Graduate School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Impact Awards are awarded to recognize graduate students for contributions they are making to our state. Read more about Jennifer Poti’s work and the […]
Barry Popkin quoted in “Obesity Rate for Young Children Plummets 43% in a Decade”
A recent article in the New York Times highlighted research findings from a CDC report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that showed a significant decrease in obesity rates among young children (ages 2 – 5) from 13.9% to 8.4% between 2003-04 and 2011-12. This drop in obesity rates is a good sign. Barry Popkin […]
Focus: Turning Point for US Diets?
New research published online January by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, [Epublication ahead of the print] shows the recession isn’t the reason for the leveling of obesity rates in the United States. The research was featured by UNC: “We found U.S. consumers changed their eating and food purchasing habits significantly beginning in 2003, when […]
News Feature: Fast Food & Child Obesity
Several news outlets featured research published in the January 2014 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition by UNCFRP team member Jennifer Poti, Kiyah Duffey, and Barry Popkin, which investigated the connection between children’s diets and obesity. The Los Angeles Times wrote: In a new study, researchers from the University of North Carolina led by nutrition professor […]
HWCF Evaluation Highlighted in News Reports of 6.4 Trillion Calorie Reduction
A Robert Wood Johnson Foundation press release highlighting UNCFRP research to evaluate the HWCF pledge to cut calories from the food supply was featured in stories from the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, Reuters, and several other news outlets. Sixteen of the nation’s leading food and beverage companies sold 6.4 trillion fewer […]
Daily Tar Heel reports on UNC Food Research Program
The student newspaper for the University of North Carolina reported on the our UNC Food Research Program’s effort to find out what America is eating. Six years ago, 16 food manufacturers pledged to cut one trillion calories from the marketplace by 2012, and a total of 1.5 trillion calories by 2015 — and UNC researchers […]
UNCFRP featured in AP’s “What do we eat? New food map will tell us”
Associated Press reporter Mary Clare Jalonick outlines our Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation Evaluation in an article titled “What do we eat? New food map will tell us” published May 20, 2013. Popkin and his researchers are hoping their project will only be the beginning of a map that consumers, companies, researchers and even the government […]
Barry Popkin featured in University Gazette (UNC)
Barry Popkin, PhD is featured in UNC’s most recent University Gazette; in an article titled Unlikely path led economist to a life of global public health, written by Courtney Mitchell. The first time Barry Popkin visited Chapel Hill, he was an economist and political activist passing through town in the late 1960s, working on desegregation and social change. He […]
Upcoming HWCF Evaluation highlighted in Wall Street Journal
In the March 30, 2013 edition of the Wall Street Journal, this article featured a preview of our UNCFRP team’s upcoming “report card” on the HWCF Evaluation. In 2010, 16 food and drink makers made the joint pledge to shave one trillion calories from the products they sell in U.S. stores and vending machines by 2012, […]
Barry Popkin quoted by USA Today in “Critics attack Coke’s anti-obesity ad”
Nanci Hellmich writes, in a USA Today article titled Critics attack Coke’s anti-obesity ad: A new Coca-Cola ad, which encourages people to come together to fight obesity, is drawing fire from consumer advocates and obesity experts. The two-minute video,appearing Monday night on several national cable networks, talks about the company’s range of beverages and how the […]
Barry Popkin quoted by The Economist in “Food companies: Food for thought”
The Economist’s Special Report: Obesity, discusses the part played by food companies and industry in the fight against flab – highlighting various approaches to creating and marketing “healthier” products, and the challenges from the public and shareholders in doing so. The upcoming HWCF Evaluation baseline report is mentioned, headlining Dr. Barry Popkin, who “will judge […]
Upcoming HWCF Progress Report Mentioned by The Economist in “The World is Fat”
In The Economist’s The World in 2013 print edition, health-care correspondent Charlotte Howard discusses the threat obesity poses to both health systems and economies worldwide. She proposes “The Economist Diet” with specific policy advice and touches on the struggle between government intervention and marketplace pledges to decrease calories. Our team’s HWCF evaluation baseline report, due out […]
Popkin in HBO’s “The Weight of the Nation” Documentary Series
Released in HBO Documentary Films and the Institute of Medicine in association with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and Kaiser Permanente present “The Weight of the Nation”. The centerpiece of THE WEIGHT OF THE NATION campaign is the four-part documentary series, each […]