A new study shows that South Africa’s 2018 tax on sugary beverages led to a reduction in purchases of the beverages, which could mean purchasers are consuming less excess sugar and calories. Shu Wen Ng, PhD, Associate Professor and Distinguished Scholar in Public Health Nutrition at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, is […]
Though multiple national health organizations recommend against giving toddler milk – a nutrient-fortified drink for children ages 12 months to 3 years that often contains added sugars – to young children, a new study suggests Latino families may be at particularly high risk for purchasing the product. The study from authors at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Gillings […]
Children in Colombia are exposed to a disproportionate amount of television advertisements that market unhealthy foods and beverages, a practice which puts them at greater risk for obesity-related health issues as adults. Researchers affiliated with the Global Food Research Program at UNC-Chapel Hill published the results of their new study, “Extent and nutritional quality of […]
New research from the Global Food Research Program at UNC-Chapel Hill finds that the food and beverage sector in Chile did not face significant job losses or wage decreases 18 months after implementation of its food labeling and advertising law. These findings counter common food and beverage industry claims that healthy food policies, such as […]
New research shows that sustained debate around improving nutrition isn’t enough to change a country’s food supply, nor are the nutrition policies of its peers. In a study of Colombia’s packaged foods and beverages, researchers in the Global Food Research Program at UNC-Chapel Hill found that, though the country is exploring similar food policies to […]
In collaboration with Vital Strategies, a leading global public health organization, the Global Food Research Program at UNC has published ‘What’s in Our Food? A guide to introducing effective front-of-package nutrient labels.’ The new guide assists countries in taking up this cost-effective, high impact strategy to combat obesity. On Sept. 17, Barry Popkin, PhD, participated […]
New analysis led by UNC-Chapel Hill’s Barry Popkin, PhD, shows that obesity plays a major role in the severity of consequences experienced by those who become infected with the coronavirus. Popkin, W.R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor in the Department of Nutrition at the UNC Gillings Global School of Public Health, is lead author of “Individuals […]
Though American households are purchasing fewer food and beverage products that are sweetened with sugar, they’re purchasing more products that include non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) like aspartame, saccharin, rebaudioside A (reb-A) and sucralose. A new study from researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill published today (July 29, 2020) in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics […]
Mandatory nutrition warning labels on packaged junk foods may lead manufactures to reformulate their products with less sodium and sugar, exposing consumers to fewer harmful nutrients in their diets. In new research published in PLOS Medicine, researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Chile found there were important […]
Chile’s 2016 Food Labeling and Advertising Law has led to a significant decrease in the amount of child-directed television advertisements for foods and beverages high in calories, saturated fats, sugars, or sodium on channels with the largest Chilean youth audiences, suggesting that children in Chile are now less exposed to unhealthy food advertising. These findings […]
A recent analysis from researchers at UNC’s Global Food Research Program (GFRP) shows that, although U.S. children are consuming less junk food overall, their diets are still dominated by less healthy foods. Such results show the importance of sustained policy discussions surrounding how foods and beverages are marketed to children – and those who care […]
Three years after Mexico implemented a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, the country’s adults are drinking fewer soft drinks, according to new findings from an international team of researchers. The team examined the self-reported soft-drink intake of participants in the three phases of Mexico’s Health Workers Cohort Study – a self-administered survey on health and lifestyle […]
New research finds that Mexico’s 10-percent tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB), implemented in 2014, could result in meaningful weight control for the country’s children and adolescents, particularly in those who had been high consumers of the beverages before the tax. Barry Popkin, PhD, is a co-author on “Body weight impact of the sugar-sweetened beverages tax […]
Can high doses of vitamin C treat or prevent COVID-19? It’s a question posed frequently on social media and in the news, especially as a new clinical trial is underway in Wuhan, China to investigate vitamin C infusion for the treatment of severe 2019-nCoV infected pneumonia. The Global Food Research Project’s Lindsey Smith Taillie, PhD, […]
Researchers have developed a new online store that can be used for testing the impact of different policies and interventions on consumers’ purchasing behavior. Lola’s Grocery was designed to have the look and feel of a typical modern online grocery. Users can search for a bag of organic Gala apples or a carton of white […]
A study by our GFRP team & our Chilean collaborators, published 11 Feb 2020 in PLOS Medicine, finds that Chile’s Law of Food Labeling and Advertising, implemented in 2016, was followed by a significant 23.7% decline in purchases of sugary drinks. This research, following changes in purchases of over 2000 households in Chile, is the […]
A new approach is needed to help low- and middle-income countries reduce obesity and undernutrition at the same time as the issues become increasingly connected, according to the first paper in a four-paper report published in The Lancet. “We are facing a new nutrition reality where major food system changes have led the poorest countries […]
Shuwen Ng is quoted in a USA Today article about the proposed statewide sugary drink tax in Connecticut, and the article presents an infographic sourced from our maps of sugary drink taxes throughout the world. Connecticut may become the first state in the country to tax sugar-sweetened beverages if Gov. Ned Lamont has his way. […]
Barry Popkin is quoted in a New York Times article discussing two recently published studies that show how multinational food companies can affect nutrition and health policies that come from various governments. China’s fitness-is-best message, as it happens, has largely been the handiwork of Coca-Cola and other Western food and beverage giants, according to a […]
The Peruvian government has issued a final Advertising Warnings Manual to require warning labels on packages of and adverts for foods that contain high levels of sugar, saturated fat, and sodium, as well as those containing trans-fat. A letter of congratulations to the Peruvian Government from various top scientists, researchers, and professionals in the areas […]