Food Studies Commons^™

Food Insecurity At A Four-Year College Campus, Danielle Corrado

School of Public Policy Capstones

This paper, through an adaption of the United States Department of Agriculture Adult Food Security survey tool, aims to identify food insecurity rates at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the demographic characteristics associated with food insecurity, potential financial factors that contribute and predict food insecurity rates, and the relationship between food insecurity and academic performance. Lastly, this paper examines on and off campus resources available to students and students perception of food insecurity before college as compared to actual food security status in college.

Promoting Healthy Diets: Challenges And Opportunities Of Nutrition Policy Implementation In Food Banks, Sarah Brown-Anson, Elizabeth Leibinger, Hadassah Masudi Minga

School of Public Policy Capstones

In recent years, food banks have grown increasingly aware of the role diet plays in wide-spread public health issues such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity. Food banks already purchase healthy foods directly and select nutritious items distributed by government programs such as The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). Recently, some banks have implemented nutrition policies to regulate donations made by businesses and individuals to further decrease the volume of less healthy options in their warehouses.

This study explores the challenges and opportunities associated to the implementation of nutrition policies for donated food items by Food Banks in the USA. …

Adolescents’ Soda Consumption In Mexico Before And After The Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Tax: Results From National Health And Nutrition Surveys, Estefania Martí Malvido

School of Public Policy Capstones

In 2014 Mexico implemented a national tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) as a public health strategy. Over the last decades, obesity has significantly increased among adolescents (12-19 years). In addition, the consumption of high-energy beverages among adolescents more than doubled from 1999 to 2006. The current study investigates the relationship between the SSBs tax and the caloric soda consumption in the Mexican adolescent population utilizing cross-sectional data from two nationally representative nutrition surveys. One from 2012 which took place before the tax was implemented and one conducted in 2016, two years after tax implementation.

Results show a positive association between …