Dataset Information

Weight status among adolescents in States that govern competitive food nutrition content.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

To determine if state laws regulating nutrition content of foods and beverages sold outside of federal school meal programs ("competitive foods") are associated with lower adolescent weight gain.

Methods

The Westlaw legal database identified state competitive food laws that were scored by using the Classification of Laws Associated with School Students criteria. States were classified as having strong, weak, or no competitive food laws in 2003 and 2006 based on law strength and comprehensiveness. Objective height and weight data were obtained from 6300 students in 40 states in fifth and eighth grade (2004 and 2007, respectively) within the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class. General linear models estimated the association between baseline state laws (2003) and within-student changes in BMI, overweight status, and obesity status. Fixed-effect models estimated the association between law changes during follow-up (2003-2006) and within-student changes in BMI and weight status.

Results

Students exposed to strong laws at baseline gained, on average, 0.25 fewer BMI units (95% confidence interval: -0.54, 0.03) and were less likely to remain overweight or obese over time than students in states with no laws. Students also gained fewer BMI units if exposed to consistently strong laws throughout follow-up (? = -0.44, 95% confidence interval: -0.71, -0.18). Conversely, students exposed to weaker laws in 2006 than 2003 had similar BMI gain as those not exposed in either year.

Conclusions

Laws that regulate competitive food nutrition content may reduce adolescent BMI change if they are comprehensive, contain strong language, and are enacted across grade levels.

SUBMITTER: Taber DR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3428756 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Weight status among adolescents in States that govern competitive food nutrition content.

Taber Daniel R DR Chriqui Jamie F JF Perna Frank M FM Powell Lisa M LM Chaloupka Frank J FJ

Pediatrics 20120813 3

<h4>Objectives</h4>To determine if state laws regulating nutrition content of foods and beverages sold outside of federal school meal programs ("competitive foods") are associated with lower adolescent weight gain.<h4>Methods</h4>The Westlaw legal database identified state competitive food laws that were scored by using the Classification of Laws Associated with School Students criteria. States were classified as having strong, weak, or no competitive food laws in 2003 and 2006 based on law stre ...[more]

PMID: 22891223

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Project description:This study assessed whether stronger school meal nutrition standards may improve student weight status. Results have immediate implications because of the ongoing implementation of new nutrition standards for the National School Lunch Program. OBJECTIVE To determine if state laws with stricter school meal nutrition standards are inversely associated with adolescent weight status, while controlling for unmeasured state-level confounders.Quasi-experiment.Public schools.Four thousand eight hundred seventy eighth-grade students in 40 states. Students were categorized by type of school lunch they usually obtained (free/reduced price, regular price, or none). INTERVENTIONS State laws governing school meal nutrition standards. States with standards that exceeded US Department of Agriculture (USDA) school meal standards were compared with states that did not exceed USDA standards. The parameter of interest was the interaction between state laws and student lunch participant status, ie, whether disparities in weight status between school lunch participants and nonparticipants were smaller in states with stricter standards.Body mass index percentile and obesity status.In states that exceeded USDA standards, the difference in obesity prevalence between students who obtained free/reduced-price lunches and students who did not obtain school lunches was 12.3 percentage points smaller (95% CI, -21.5 to -3.0) compared with states that did not exceed USDA standards. Likewise, differences in mean body mass index percentile between those student populations were 11 units smaller in states that exceeded USDA standards (95% CI, -17.7 to -4.3). There was little evidence that students compensated for school meal laws by purchasing more sweets, salty snacks, or sugar-sweetened beverages from other school venues (eg, vending machines) or other sources (eg, fast food).Stringent school meal standards that reflect the latest nutrition science may improve weight status among school lunch participants, particularly those eligible for free/reduced-price lunches.

Dataset Information

Weight status among adolescents in States that govern competitive food nutrition content.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Weight status among adolescents in States that govern competitive food nutrition content.

Similar Datasets

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