Adults Noticing Calorie Counts on Restaurant Menus: Evidence From Nationally Representative Data, 2022.

INTRODUCTION: Since May 2018, federal restaurant menu labeling regulations have required large U.S. chain restaurants to disclose calorie counts on menus. This study estimates the share of U.S. adults who notice calorie information on fast-food and sit-down restaurant menus and identifies the consumer characteristics that predict noticing calorie labels. METHODS: Using a nationally representative sample of 5,185 U.S. adults aged 18 and older from the 2022 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), linear regression models were estimated to predict the likelihood of noticing calorie labels the last time adults ordered food in a fast-food or sit-down restaurant. The 2022 HINTS data were publicly released in April 2023 and these public-use and de-identified data were analyzed in October 2023. RESULTS: In 2022, about 1 in 2 U.S. adults (49.7%, 95% CI=47.6%, 51.8%) reported noticing calorie labels during their last restaurant visit. The likelihood of noticing calorie information was significantly lower among men, lower income households, unpartnered adults, residents of the Northeast Census Region, and residents of rural areas. CONCLUSIONS: Approximately half of U.S. adults reported seeing calorie labels when they last ordered food in a fast-food or sit-down restaurant in 2022. Sex, income, marital status, and residential location influenced the likelihood of noticing calorie counts posted on restaurant menus.

Working from Home and Emotional Well-Being during Major Daily Activities.

The effect of WFH (working from home) on the quality of life of U.S. workers is not well understood. We analyze the association between WFH and overall emotional well-being during major daily activities. Using data from the 2021 Well-Being Module of the American Time Use Survey, we conduct a principal component analysis to construct a measure of overall emotional well-being and jointly estimate the association between WFH and overall emotional well-being scores in a seemingly unrelated regression framework. Our results show that compared to workers who worked outside the home, those who WFH had higher emotional well-being scores while working and eating away from home. However, no statistically significant differences were found for home-based daily activities such as relaxing, leisure, food preparation, and eating at home. These findings inform how WFH may shape the quality of a life day.

Correction to: Work from Home and Daily Time Allocations: Evidence from the Coronavirus Pandemic.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1007/s11150-022-09614-w.].

Work from home and daily time allocations: evidence from the coronavirus pandemic.

The emergence and spread of the novel coronavirus in the U.S. were quickly followed by a widespread expansion in remote work eligibility, which, in turn, led to necessary alignments between pre-existing household management schedules and new home-based work schedules for many of those who worked from home (WFH) during the COVID-19 pandemic. We use 24-hour time diary data from the 2010-2020 American Time Use Survey to examine how major daily time allocations of those who WFH changed during the pandemic compared with those who worked away from home (WAFH). Before the pandemic, we find that those who WFH spent significantly less time working, commuting to work, grooming, and eating away from home, but significantly more time sleeping, socializing, relaxing, doing housework, caring for children, shopping, preparing food, and eating at home. During the pandemic, we find generally small and statistically insignificant changes in the time allocations of those who WAFH, but several large and significant changes in uses of time for those who WFH. A noteworthy intra-pandemic increase was in time devoted to labor market work by those who WFH, which almost halved the pre-pandemic WAFH-WFH difference. Results also show large and significant reductions in time devoted to other activities during the pandemic, including work-related travel, socializing, doing housework, shopping, shopping-related travel, and eating away from home. The intra-pandemic redistribution of time by those who WFH may have health and quality-of-life implications that should be assessed as the pandemic subsides and WFH becomes a more common feature of post-pandemic life.

Obesity Prevalence Among U.S. Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

INTRODUCTION: As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, several studies collected small and relatively homogenous samples to track U.S. adult obesity rates and obesity-related risk factors. In this study, a much larger sample from a nationally representative survey was used to investigate changes in average BMI, obesity prevalence rates, and 4 obesity-related risk factors in the U.S. adult population during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Using a large nationally representative sample of U.S. adults aged ≥20 years from the 2011-2020 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, linear regression models estimated intra-pandemic changes in average BMI and obesity prevalence rates as well as 4 obesity-related risk factors. RESULTS: Relative to the 2019 to prepandemic 2020 period, significantly higher average BMI (+0.6%, p<0.05, N=3,555,865) and obesity prevalence rates (+3%, p<0.05, N=3,555,865) were observed among U.S. adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Significantly higher rates of any exercise participation (+4.4%, p<0.01, N=3,607,272), average sleep hours in a 24-hour period (+1.5%, p<0.01, N=1,907,798), average alcoholic drink days in the past month (+2.7%, p<0.05, N=3,577,090), and lower rates of smoking at least some days (-4%, p<0.01, N=3,625,180) were also observed. CONCLUSIONS: During the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. adult obesity rates were higher and worsened the pre-existing epidemic of adult obesity in the U.S. Higher rates of alcohol consumption and lower smoking rates may have contributed to the higher rates of adult obesity in the U.S during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The effect of working from home on major time allocations with a focus on food-related activities.

Telecommuting has been on the rise in the U.S. and working from home may affect how workers allocate their time over the course of a day. In this paper, using a seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) framework, we examine differences in time spent in major activities between individuals who worked from home and away from home. We use data on prime working-age adults (age 25-54 years old) who participated in the 2017-18 Leave and Job Flexibilities Module of the American Time Use Survey. Results show that prime working-age American adults who worked from home during their diary day spent less time working and on personal care, but more time on leisure, sleeping, and on food production and consumption than those who worked away from home. For instance, among individuals with a spouse or partner present, those who worked from home spent 25 more minutes engaged in food production and 48 more minutes eating and drinking at home than did individuals who worked away from home, which are large relative to the sample averages of 33 and 31 min, respectively. These results show that there is important variation in the daily time allocation of workers in their prime working years and suggest in particular that working from home may allow for substantially more time to produce food and consume food at home, which may provide teleworkers with health benefits since home-produced meals tend to be lower in calories and higher in nutrients than meals prepared away from home.

The effects of soda taxes on adolescent sugar intake and blood sugar.

Intake of added sugars is high in the US adolescent population, with sugar-sweetened beverages being the primary source. We contribute to the literature by providing the first estimates of the impacts of soda sales taxes, which are commonly levied in the US states, on the total daily sugar intake and blood sugar of adolescents aged 12-19 years. Using a restricted-use version of the 1999-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and exploiting within-state variation in soda sales tax rates over time, our results indicate that adolescent soft drink demand is tax-sensitive. Consistent with prior research using NHANES data, we find that adolescents reduce calories consumed from soft drinks when faced with a rise in soda sales taxes, but they offset this reduction with an increase in calorie intake from milk drinks. In accordance with this substitution behavior, we find that soda sales taxes cause small and insignificant changes in the total daily calorie intake, total daily sugar intake, or blood sugar levels of adolescents.

Birth weight, neonatal care, and infant mortality: Evidence from macrosomic babies.

This study demonstrates that rule-of-thumb health treatment decision-making exists when assigning medical care to macrosomic newborns with an extremely high birth weight and estimates the short-run health return to neonatal care for infants at the high end of the birth weight distribution. Using a regression discontinuity design, we find that infants born with a birth weight above 5000 grams have a 2 percentage-point higher probability of admission to a neonatal intensive care unit and a 1 percentage-point higher probability of antibiotics receipt, compared to infants with a birth weight below 5000 grams. We also find that being born above the 5000-gram cutoff has a mortality-reducing effect: infants with a birth weight larger than 5000 grams face a 0.15 percentage-point lower risk of mortality in the first week and a 0.20 percentage-point lower risk of mortality in the first month, compared to their counterparts with a birth weight below 5000 grams. We do not find any evidence of changes in health treatments and mortality at macrosomic cutoffs lower than 5000 grams, which is consistent with the idea that such treatment decisions are guided by the higher expected morbidity and mortality risk associated with infants weighing more than 5000 grams.

Intake of trans-fats among US youth declined from 1999-2000 to 2009-2010.

OBJECTIVE: To analyse how much the intake of trans-fatty acids (TFA), an important dietary risk factor for CVD, changed among US children and adolescents over a period of time when food regulations that reduced the presence of TFA in the food supply were enacted. DESIGN: Regression models were used to estimate changes in levels of TFA in plasma and other CVD risk factors among US children and adolescents from 1999-2000 to 2009-2010. SETTING: USA. PARTICIPANTS: Nationally representative sample of children (aged 6-11 years) and adolescents (aged 12-19 years) who participated in the 1999-2000 and 2009-2010 cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. RESULTS: Levels of plasma TFA declined significantly by an average of 61·9 % from 1999-2000 to 2009-2010. The average decline in a TFA commonly found in partially hydrogenated oils (elaidic acid, 67·2 %) was larger than the average decline in a TFA naturally occurring in ruminant animals (vaccenic acid, 60·5 %). Significant improvements in a variety of other CVD risk factors (LDL- and HDL-cholesterol, TAG, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, C-reactive protein) were also observed. CONCLUSIONS: Between the two time points, 1999-2000 and 2009-2010, there were substantial decreases in plasma TFA levels and improvements in several other important CVD risk factors in the population of US children and adolescents.

Restricting access to alcohol and public health: Evidence from electoral dry laws in Brazil.

We analyze the impact of short-term alcohol bans on road traffic accidents, traffic injuries, and hospital admissions. We focus on the 2012 Municipal Elections in Brazil, during which 11 out of 27 states imposed on its 2,733 municipalities the decision to adopt alcohol bans. Using day-level data on municipalities, we find that alcohol bans caused substantial reductions in road crashes (19%), traffic injuries (43%), and traffic-related hospitalizations (17%). An analysis of traffic-related hospitalization costs allows us to estimate the lower bound of the negative externality associated with excessive alcohol consumption in this context, which reveals that electoral dry laws saved Brazil's public healthcare system $100,000 per day.

Restaurant menu labeling laws and alcohol use.

The goal of this study was to analyze the effect of local and state mandatory restaurant menu labeling laws on alcohol use. Using a difference-in-differences estimation approach and data on adults aged 21 and older (n=2,157,722) from the 2002-2012 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, we estimated the effect of menu labeling laws on self-reported consumption of alcoholic beverages in the past month. The regression analysis indicates that on average implementation of menu labeling laws is associated with a 1.2 percentage-point drop in the fraction of survey respondents reporting that they drank an alcoholic beverage in the past month (95% confidence interval=-0.020, -0.004), compared with jurisdictions that had not implemented menu labeling laws. Moreover, we find that the estimated policy effects on alcohol use are larger among men than among women and larger among minorities than among non-Hispanic whites. Further provision of calorie information on foods and beverages in food service establishments, such as through federal menu labeling regulations, may have the potential to lead to a meaningful reduction in alcohol use throughout the U.S. and may result in larger reductions in alcohol use among men and minorities.

Calorie Labeling in Chain Restaurants and Body Weight: Evidence from New York.

This study analyzes the impact of local mandatory calorie labeling laws implemented by New York jurisdictions on body weight. The analysis indicates that on average the point-of-purchase provision of calorie information on chain restaurant menus reduced body mass index (BMI) by 1.5% and lowered the risk of obesity by 12%. Quantile regression results indicate that calorie labeling has similar impacts across the BMI distribution. An analysis of heterogeneity suggests that calorie labeling has a larger impact on the body weight of lower income individuals, especially lower income minorities. The estimated impacts of calorie labeling on physical activity, smoking, and the consumption of alcoholic beverages, fruits, and vegetables are small in magnitude, which suggests that other margins of adjustment drive the body-weight impacts estimated here. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Further Decline of Trans Fatty Acids Levels Among US Adults Between 1999-2000 and 2009-2010.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate differences in levels of plasma trans fatty acids (TFAs) and a broad set of other markers for cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in the US adult population between 1999-2000 and 2009-2010. METHODS: Using a nationally representative sample of US adults aged 20 years and older from the 1999-2000 and 2009-2010 waves of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, regression models were estimated to compare levels of TFAs and other markers for CVD risk over time. RESULTS: Significant declines in levels of plasma TFAs and improvements in a variety of other markers for CVD risk were observed in the US adult population. CONCLUSIONS: Between the 2 time points, 1999-2000 and 2009-2010, there were substantial decreases in TFA levels and improvements in several other important cardiovascular health indicators in US adults.

Denmark's Policy on Artificial Trans Fat and Cardiovascular Disease.

INTRODUCTION: The consumption of trans fat is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD). In January 2004, Denmark became the first country in the world to regulate the content of artificial trans fat in certain ingredients in food products, which nearly eliminated artificial trans fat from the Danish food supply. The goal of this study was to assess whether Denmark's trans fat policy reduced deaths caused by CVD. METHODS: Annual mortality rates in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries from 1990 to 2012 were used to estimate the effect of Denmark's food policy on CVD mortality rates. Synthetic control methods were employed to simulate the CVD mortality trajectory that Denmark would have witnessed in the absence of the policy and to measure the policy's impact on CVD mortality rates. Analyses were conducted in 2015. RESULTS: Before the trans fat policy was implemented, CVD mortality rates in Denmark closely tracked those of a weighted average of other OECD countries (i.e., the synthetic control group). In the years before the policy, the annual mean was 441.5 deaths per 100,000 people in Denmark and 442.7 in the synthetic control group. In the 3 years after the policy was implemented, mortality attributable to CVD decreased on average by about 14.2 deaths per 100,000 people per year in Denmark relative to the synthetic control group. CONCLUSIONS: Denmark's food policy, which restricted the content of artificial trans fat in certain ingredients in its food supply, has been followed by a decrease in CVD mortality rates.

Trans fat and cardiovascular disease mortality: Evidence from bans in restaurants in New York.

This paper analyzes the impact of trans fat bans on cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality rates. Several New York State jurisdictions have restricted the use of ingredients containing artificial trans fat in food service establishments. The resulting within-county variation over time and the differential timing of the policy's rollout is used in estimation. The results indicate that the policy caused a 4.5% reduction in CVD mortality rates, or 13 fewer CVD deaths per 100,000 persons per year. The averted deaths can be valued at about $3.9 million per 100,000 persons annually.