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Members of our team have worked for decades on a wide array of nutrition research projects in the United States. Our current work focuses primarily on diet-related health disparities that can lead to higher risk of chronic diseases for some groups, including low-income, Black, and Latinx populations. We also study factors impacting child nutrition. More specifically, our U.S. research projects examine:
We have developed innovative methods and models to evaluate and inform the design of federal food assistance programs (e.g., WIC, SNAP) and nutrition policy interventions such as front-of-package labeling, food and drink taxes or subsidies, restrictions on junk food marketing, and other nutrition-related policies. These methods include pricing simulations that model the effect of different pricing policies such as taxes and subsidies on food purchases and nutritional outcomes and experimental grocery stores (both virtual and real-life). Read more about our mock stores here:
Resources
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A prescription for healthier diets: SuperSNAP in NC
Policy brief describing SuperSNAP, a Food is Medicine program in NC. Starting in September 2019, the SuperSNAP program enrolled individuals with diet-related health conditions receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in nine federally qualified health centers across North Carolina. SuperSNAP participants received $40 per month to spend on fresh, frozen, canned, or dried fruits and vegetables without additives at a participating NC-based chain retailer with around 500 stores across North Carolina. This policy brief includes reflections from surveys with consumers, NC retailers, and healthcare providers on the success of the SuperSNAP program.
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Comments for USDA Revised WIC Food Package
The Global Food Research Program's comments submitted in response to the USDA Food and Nutrition Service's proposed updates to foods provided through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
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WIC cash value benefit increase: A key step toward healthier families
Policy brief summarizing findings from a study about WIC participants' experiences with changes to the program's cash value benefit for buying fruits and vegetables during the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers sought to understand WIC participant perceptions of this change and barriers and facilitators to using the CVB.
Publications
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A produce prescription program for patients with low incomes in North Carolina resulted in increased produce purchases.
Authors: Amy Lo, Neal Curran, Sierra Mullen, Shu Wen Ng
Published In: Preventative Medicine, August 11, 2024 view full text -
Nutritional quality of food purchases during the COVID-19 public health crisis: an analysis of geographic disparities in North Carolina
Authors: Aline D'Angelo Campos, Shu Wen Ng
Published In: Preventive Medicine Reports, July 5, 2024 view full text -
The impact of an eco-score label on US consumers' perceptions of environmental sustainability and intentions to purchase food: a randomized experiment
Authors: Lindsey Smith Taillie, Julia Wolfson, Carmen Prestemon, Maxime Bercholz, Laina Ewoldt, Phoebe Ruggles, Marissa Hall
Published in: PLOS One, June 27, 2024 view full text -
How promising are "ultra-processed" front-of-package labels? A formative study with U.S. adults
Authors: Aline D'angelo Campos, Shu Wen Ng, Katherine McNeel, Marissa Hall
Published in: Nutrients, April 6, 2024 view full text -
Promoting healthier purchases: ultra-processed food taxes and minimally-processed food subsidies for the low income.
Authors: Pourya Valizadeh, Shu Wen Ng
Published in: American Journal of Preventative Medicine, April 2, 2024 view full text -
Impact of the Philadelphia beverage tax on perceived beverage healthfulness, tax awareness and tax opinions
Authors: Caitlin Lowery, Christina Roberto, Sophia Hua, Sara Bleich, Nandita Mitra, Hannah Lawman, Lindsey Smith Taillie, Shu Wen Ng, Laura Gibson
Published in: Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, March 9, 2024 view full text -
A policy approach to identifying food and beverage products that are ultra-processed and high in added salt, sugar and saturated fat
Authors: Barry Popkin, Donna Miles, Lindsey Smith Taillie, Elizabeth Dunford
Published in: The Lancet Regional Health - Americas, March 8, 2024 view full text -
Understanding Whether Price Tag Messaging Can Amplify the Benefits of Taxes: An Online Experiment.
Authors: Marissa Hall, Phoebe Ruggles, Katherine McNeel, Carmen Prestemon, Cristina Lee, Caitlin Lowery, Aline D'Angelo Campos, Lindsey Smith Taillie
Published In: American Journal Of Preventative Medicine, January 7, 2024 view full text -
Trends in sugar from package foods and beverages purchased by U.S. households between 2002 and 2020
Authors: Gabriela Vatavuk-Serrati, Sarah Frank, Shu Wen Ng, Lindsey Smith Taillie
Published In: Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, October 25, 2023 view full text -
Impact of taxes and warning labels on red meat purchases in a naturalistic online grocery store: A randomized controlled trial
Authors: Lindsey Smith Taillie, Maxime Bercholz, Carmen Prestemon, Isabella Higgins, Anna H. Grummon, Marissa G. Hall, Lindsay Jaacks
Published in: PLOS Medicine, September 18, 2023
view full text -
Natural claims on sugary fruit drinks: a randomized experiment with US parents
Authors: Marissa Hall, Ana Paula Richter, Phoebe Ruggles, Cristina Lee, Allison Lazard, Anna Grummon, Isabella Higgins, Emily Duffy, Lindsey Smith Taillie
Published in: American Journal of Preventive Medicine, July 18, 2023 view full text -
How pictorial warnings change parents’ purchases of sugar-sweetened beverage for their children: mechanisms of impact
Authors: Marissa Hall, Anna Grummon, Alison Lazard, T. Queen, Isabella Higgins, A. P. Richter, Lindsey Smith Taillie
Published in: International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, June 23, 2023 view full text -
Effects of pictorial warnings on parents' purchases and perceptions of sugar-sweetened beverage categories
Authors: Aline D'Angelo Campos, Lindsey Smith Taillie, Gabriela Vatavuk-Serrati, Anna H. Grummon, Isabella C. A. Higgins, Marissa G. Hall
Published in: Pediatric Obesity, March 25, 2023 view full text -
Food additives in ultra-processed packaged foods: An examination of US household grocery store purchases
Authors: Elizabeth K. Dunford, Donna R. Miles, Barry Popkin
Published in: Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, January 31, 2023 view full text -
Grocery purchase changes were associated with a North Carolina COVID food assistance incentive program
Authors: Caitlin M. Lowery, Richard Henderson, Neal Curran, Sam Hoeffler, Molly DeMarco, Shu Wen Ng
Published in: Health Affairs, November 7, 2022 view full text -
Prevalence and demographic correlates of online grocery shopping: results from a nationally representative survey during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Emily W. Duffy, Amy Lo, Marissa G. Hall, Lindsey Smith Taillie, Shu Wen Ng
Published in: Public Health Nutrition, August 19, 2022 view full text -
Did A Fruit and Vegetable Incentive Program Support low-income Households in North Carolina during the COVID-19 Pandemic? A Mixed Methods Assessment of the Healthy Helping Program and Other Pandemic-Related Food Assistance
Authors: Isabel Lu, Brett Sheppard, Shu Wen Ng, Sarah Burstein, Emile Charles, Taylor Williams
and Molly De Marco
Published in: Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, August 7, 2022 view full text