OBJECTIVE To determine whether a single exposure to a Manga comic (Japanese comic art) with multiple messages promoting fruit intake influenced snack selection in minority urban youth. METHODS Fifty-seven youth (mean age 10.8 y; 54% female; 74% black/African American) attending after-school programs in Brooklyn, NY participated in a pilot study in which they were randomly assigned to receive ...

Portion sizes of many foods have increased in recent times. In three studies we examined the effect that repeated visual exposure to larger versus smaller food portion sizes has on perceptions of what constitutes a normal-sized food portion and measures of portion size selection. In studies 1 and 2 participants were visually exposed to images of large or small portions of spaghetti bolognese, b...

The purpose of this research was to examine how educating middle school students about cleanliness and sanitation, enforcing laws on vendors, implementing policies affects the students' views attitudes regarding buying snacks. Methods such as surveys, evaluations discussions in small groups were all part overall strategy. While teaching proper sanitation is crucial, found that it may not be eno...

A thermoplastically extruded snack was produced from different blends of corn grits and silver carp minced meat. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to study the effect of fish meat content and to optimize the feed composition. Fourteen treatments from central composite design considering minced fish content (0-3 kg) and corn (7-10 kg) were used as the independent variables. The expansi...

BACKGROUND The essence of nudging is to adapt the environment in which consumers make decisions to help them make better choices, without forcing certain outcomes upon them. To determine how consumers can effectively be guided to select healthier snacks, we examine the effect of manipulating the assortment structure and shelf layout of an impulse display including both healthy and unhealthy sna...

BACKGROUND Obesity disproportionately affects children from low-income families and those from racial and ethnic minorities. The relationship between snacking and weight status remains unclear, although snacking is known to be an important eating episode for energy and nutrient intake particularly in young children. The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the snack intake of minority pre...

This study examined whether young men adjusted their snack-food intake to that of a same-sex eating companion. Additionally, hunger was assessed as a possible moderating variable. A total of 59 young men (M age=21.73) participated. An interaction between participants' hunger and confederate's intake on the total amount of snack food (in grams) consumed was found. Only those males who were hungr...

We leverage behavioral economics to explore new approaches to tackling child food choice and consumption. Using a field experiment with >1500 children, we report several key insights. We find that incentives have large influences: in the control, 17% of children prefer the healthy snack, whereas introduction of small incentives increases take-up of the healthy snack to ∼75%. There is some evide...

The snack food potato chips induces food intake in ad libitum fed rats, which is associated with modulation of the brain reward system and other circuits. Here, we show that food intake in satiated rats is triggered by an optimal fat/carbohydrate ratio. Like potato chips, an isocaloric fat/carbohydrate mixture influenced whole brain activity pattern of rats, affecting circuits related e.g. to r...

BACKGROUND Tens of millions of children regularly participate in out-of-school-time (OST) programs, providing an opportunity for child health promotion. Most research on OST has focused on structured, staff-led after-school programs, as opposed to volunteer-led programs such as enrichment programs and youth sports. The aim of this study was to describe snacks, beverages, and physical activity (...