Scholarly Works, Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise
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- Branded Marketing and Media Campaigns to Support a Healthy Diet in the United States, 1999-2016: Insights to Inform the Partnership for a Healthier America’s Fruits & Veggies (FNV) CampaignKraak, Vivica; Englund, Tessa R.; Zhou, Mi; Duffey, Kiyah J. (2017-03)Introduction Obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCD) are serious public health challenges that have created an enormous financial burden on the United States (U.S) health care system. The United States spends an estimated $190 billion annually on obesity-related costs, representing about 20 percent of all medical spending. Childhood obesity is responsible for more than $14 billion dollars in direct medical costs...
- Evaluation For Buying and Eating Fruits and Vegetables Among Teens and Moms Exposed to the Fruits & Veggies (FNV) Campaign in California and Virginia, 2015-2017Duffey, Kiyah J.; Kennedy, Lauren E.; Englund, Tessa R.; Rincón-Gallardo Patiño, Sofía; Hedrick, Valisa E.; Kraak, Vivica (2017-12)In 2015, the PHA launched the branded FNV (Fruits & Veggies) Campaign in California and Virginia to increase sales and consumption of fruits and vegetables among millennial moms (21-34 years) and Generation Z teens (15-20 years). This study summarizes trends in U.S. fruit and vegetable consumption behaviors. We also describe the survey results that examined the familiarity of the FNV Campaign among Generation Z teens and Millennial moms in the two lead cities or test locations—Fresno in the Central Valley region of California and the Hampton Roads region of southeastern Virginia. Methods: A 35-item Qualtrics survey was administered either in person or online to Millennial moms and Generation Z teens in the two lead cities (n= 1604; Fresno, California: n= 746; Hampton Roads, Virginia: n=858) between February 1, 2017 and June 31, 2017. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 24 for Windows (IBM Corporation, USA, 2016). We analyzed differences in cognitive, affective, and behavioral outcomes by each test location. Differences within each city were compared between those who were familiar versus unfamiliar with the FNV Campaign. Results: About a quarter (25%) of respondents in each lead city (25.2% in Fresno, California and 25.8% in Hampton Roads, Virginia) were familiar with the FNV Campaign. In Hampton Roads, Virginia, a larger percentage of respondents reported having seen the FNV logo, while in Fresno, California, respondents reported an equal distribution between seeing the logo online or in the community, or just having heard of FNV. Apples, bananas and carrots were the most commonly recognized foods by participants surveyed who recalled seeing the FNV Campaign. There were no statistically significant differences between respondents familiar with the FNV Campaign and their awareness of previous campaigns that encouraged fruits and vegetables (e.g., Five a Day and Fruits and Veggies—More Matters). Respondents familiar with the FNV Campaign were not more knowledgeable about U.S. government-recommended servings of fruits and vegetables (e.g., 4.5 cup equivalents/day), compared to those who were unfamiliar with FNV Campaign. Respon¬dents in both test locations were significantly more likely to agree that they found it hard to purchase fruits and vegetables in their neighborhood and that eating fruits and vegetables affected their health. In Fresno, California but not Hampton Roads, Virginia, respondents familiar with FNV were significantly more confident in their ability to purchase but not prepare fruits and vegetables. There were statistically significant differences between respondents in Fresno, California who were familiar with the FNV Campaign. These respondents reported more daily servings of 100% vegetable juice, dark-green leafy vegetables and orange-colored vegetables compared to those who were unfamiliar with FNV, although the latter differences were not significant. No differences were observed between respondents who were familiar or unfamiliar with the FNV Campaign in Hampton Roads, Virginia. We found no differences in the fruit and vegetable purchasing behaviors of those familiar versus unfamiliar with the FNV Campaign in either test location. Large supermarkets and farmers’ markets were the two most common locations where respondents’ reported always or mostly shopping for food. Conclusions: While a quarter of respondents interviewed were familiar with the FNV brand, more work is needed to influence the target populations’ awareness about the FNV Campaign. There is also a need to understand how to use IMC to promote actionable and memorable messages to encourage target groups to purchase and consume more fruits and vegetables regularly that align with the DGA. We offer six recommendations to inform future research, evaluation and marketing of the FNV Campaign.
- Evaluation Summary. Four Studies Conducted for the Partnership for a Healthier America's Fruits & Veggies (FNV) Campaign in California and Virginia, 2015-2017Kraak, Vivica; Englund, Tessa R.; Zhou, Mi; Duffey, Kiyah J. (Department Of Human Nutrition, Foods, And Exercise, 2018-02)This evaluation summary provides brief descriptions of four studies funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to evaluate the Partnership for a Healthier America’s (PHA’s) branded FNV (Fruits & Veggies) Campaign that was launched in two pilot cities or test locations—Fresno in the Central Valley region of California and the Hampton Roads region of southeastern Virginia in 2015. The PHA designed the FNV Campaign as a new brand to increase the sales and consumption of all forms of fruits and vegetables (e.g., fresh, canned, dried and frozen) to reach Millennial moms, ages 21 to 34 years, and Generation Z teens, ages 15 to 20 years, in the two test locations. The PHA also explored how the FNV Campaign could reach racially, ethnically and culturally diverse populations. During phase one of the FNV Campaign (May 2015 to September 2016), the PHA reported the Campaign as a $5 million dollar/year that used commercial and behavioral branding principles and integrated marketing communication (IMC) strategies to raise awareness and encourage fruit and vegetable sales and intake among targeted populations in the two test locations. Commercial businesses often use IMC strategies in campaigns that combine advertising, public relations, sales promotion, direct marketing, sponsorships, celebrity endorsement, and point-of-purchase in retail settings across different communication platforms to build brand awareness and loyalty among targeted groups for products, services and ideas. In September 2015, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provided a grant to a research team in the Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia to conduct a multi-faceted and independent evaluation of the FNV Campaign in the two pilot locations of Fresno, California and Hampton Roads, Virginia during phase one. This report summarizes the results of four studies that comprise an independent evaluation of the FNV Campaign conducted between September 2015 and December 2017. During phase two of the FNV Campaign (October 2016 to the present), the PHA announced the FNV Campaign’s expansion to 13 states and cities. These locations included: Fresno, Los Angeles and San Francisco, California; Boise, Idaho; Dallas, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; Mason City, Iowa; Syracuse, New York; Washington, DC; Boston and Springfield, Massachusetts; Norfolk/Hampton Roads, Virginia; Raleigh, North Carolina; Atlanta, Georgia; Miami, Florida; and Madison, Wisconsin. By May 2017, the PHA had reported more than 25 public- and private-sector partners who supported the FNV Campaign. These included partnerships with state health departments and USDA Cooperative Extension offices in California, Colorado, Georgia and Wisconsin to reach participants in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and SNAP-Education (SNAP-Ed) to encourage fruits and vegetables. We anticipate that the collective findings from this evaluation will be useful as the PHA and partners aim to expand, scale up and sustain the FNV Campaign in other states and nationwide.
- A Multi-Dimensional Digital Food and Nutrition Literacy Model to Enable Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Adults to Make Health Purchases in an Online Food Retail Ecosystem: A Scoping Review to Inform U.S. PoliciesKraak, Vivica; Consavage Stanley, Katherine; Harrigan, Paige B.; Serrano, Elena L. (2021-05)Background: The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted the food supply, distribution and services and led to major changes in the federal government’s safety-net programs. This paper synthesizes evidence for the literacy needs of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligible adults who receive benefits from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to purchase groceries in an online food retail ecosystem. Methods: We conducted a scoping review of four electronic databases and gray literature sources to synthesize evidence in a narrative review to recommend actions for U.S. institutions. Step 1 identified health, food, nutrition, digital, media and marketing literacy frameworks and models to develop a multi-dimensional literacy model to inform policies for SNAP participants operating in an online food retail ecosystem. Step 2 identified U.S. cross-sectional or intervention studies that evaluated food or nutrition literacy including SNAP-eligible adults, and the multi-dimensional literacy model was used to evaluate these studies. Both steps informed recommended policies and actions to strengthen SNAP participants’ literacy skills for healthy grocery purchases online. Results: We examined 40 literacy frameworks to develop a multi-dimensional, five-step, digital food and nutrition literacy model that included functional, interactive, communicative, critical and translational literacy. We used the model to review and evaluate 18 U.S. food and nutrition literacy studies. While adults with higher food or nutrition literacy scores had better cognitive, behavioral, food security or health status outcomes, there were no consistent findings across the studies. No frameworks examined digital literacy, three studies reported using a conceptual framework, and six studies examined SNAP or SNAP-Education (SNAP-Ed) outcomes. The results are used to recommend policies and actions for the U.S. Congress and federal agencies to strengthen the digital food and nutrition literacy infrastructure; and for USDA, industry, foundations, researchers and civil society organizations to address the digital food and nutrition literacy needs of SNAP adults who order groceries online. Conclusions: The post-COVID food shopping trends underscore the need to enable SNAP participants at risk of food insecurity to develop many types of literacy skills to navigate the in-store “path to purchase” to the online digital food ecosystem in order to make healthy food and beverage product choices that align with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) 2020-2025 and USDA’s MyPlate. Future research should test this multi-dimensional food and nutrition literacy model, validate metrics to measure progress to achieve the outcomes, and develop dissemination tools tailored for SNAP participants. Diverse strategies could be implemented by U.S. government agencies, retailers, foundations and non-governmental organizations to strengthen digital literacy and the infrastructure for a healthy online food retail ecosystem.
- A Profile of Celebrities Involved in the Partnership for a Healthier America’s Fruits & Veggies (FNV) CampaignKraak, Vivica; Zhou, Mi; Duffey, Kiyah J.; Williams, Jerome D. (2017-01)Most Americans do not consume the minimum daily 4.5-cup equivalent servings of fruits and vegetables recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020 (DGA). In 2015, the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) launched a $5 million dollar branded marketing campaign called FNV (Fruits & Veggies) in Fresno, California and Hampton Roads Virginia to increase sales and consumption of fruits and vegetables among ethnically and racially diverse millennial moms (21-34 years) and Generation Z teens (15-20 years). Pro bono celebrity endorsement is a feature of the FNV Campaign’s IMC strategy, complemented by the use of print, broadcast and social media; sponsored community events; and in-store food retail marketing. A Virginia Tech evaluation team examined the FNV Campaign celebrities’ demographic profile (i.e., race, ethnicity, sex and age); food category and brand endorsements; and company or organization partnerships between April 2015 and December 2016. Methods: The FNV Campaign celebrity names (n=82) were obtained from the FNV website, verified by PHA staff, and entered into a larger Excel database of celebrities (n=552) associated with food and beverage group, brand or product endorsements in the United States between 1990 and 2016. We collaborated with computer scientists to use a python-based scripting engine and data visualization tools to analyze and display the relationships among each FNV Campaign celebrity; company, organization or campaign association; and brand or product category endorsements. We created a scatterplot for each celebrity’s food and beverage category or product endorsement to assess whether it met the U.S. DGA 2015-2020 and USDA’s Smart Snacks in School Standards. Two interactive dedrograms illustrated the FNV celebrity endorsement relationships between products, brands and companies. Results: The 552 unique celebrities were associated with 745 endorsements representing 159 brands across 13 food and beverage categories. The 82 FNV Campaign celebrities represented 15% of the entire database. Two thirds were male (68%; n=56) and they are primarily white (46%; n=38) or African American (43%; n=35). FNV Campaign celebrities were associated with a quarter (23%; n=37) of brands promoting fruits and vegetables; water, low- or no-calorie beverages (LCB or NCB) ≤60 calories/12 ounce-serving; and dairy or milk. The FNV Campaign celebrities were involved with 121 endorsements across 12 food and beverages categories. Three quarters (76%; n=62) endorsed only FNV; 12% (n=10) endorsed FNV and another brand; and 10% (n=8) endorsed FNV and 2-3 other brands. Apolo Ohno and Serena Williams endorsed FNV and 5-8 other brands. More than two thirds (70%; n=14) of FNV celebrities endorsed associated with products high in fat, sugar and sodium. Conclusions: Empirical evidence is needed to evaluate whether the target populations recognize the FNV Campaign celebrities, and how they view multiple endorsers for fruits and vegetables versus sugar-sweetened beverages, restaurant meals, salty and sweet snacks and desserts. We offer six recommendations to build an evidence base that will reveal whether the FNV Campaign’s celebrity endorsement is effective to encourage Americans to buy and consume more fruits and vegetables.
- Stakeholders’ Views About the FNV Campaign to Increase the Sales and Consumption of Fruits and Vegetables in Two U.S. CitiesKraak, Vivica; Englund, Tessa R.; Zhou, Mi; Duffey, Kiyah J. (2017-12)In 2015, the PHA launched the branded FNV (Fruits & Veggies) Campaign in California and Virginia to increase sales and consumption of fruits and vegetables among millennial moms (21-34 years) and Generation Z teens (15-20 years). This study explored diverse stakeholders’ views and expectations about the FNV Campaign’s design, implementation and effectiveness in the test locations—Fresno in the Central Valley region of California and the Hampton Roads region of southeastern Virginia (May 2015 to September 2016); and their views about future expansion, scaling up and sustainability. Methods: We used a purposive sampling strategy to recruit and interview diverse stakeholders (n=22) (i.e., government, business, trade associations, public-interest non-governmental organizations, private foundations, and academic institutions) by phone (n=18) or in-person (n=4) between July and October 2016. We used a 15-item interview guide to explore stakeholders’ views and expectations about eight constructs (i.e., design, reach, adoption, effectiveness, impact, expansion, scaling up and sustainability) for the FNV Campaign. The interviews were analyzed using qualitative research principles and NVivo 11 software. The written transcripts were coded and analyzed for emergent themes. The results were summarized as perceived opportunities and challenges for the eight constructs. Results: Stakeholders represented national, state or local government agencies (36.4%; n=8), private-sector businesses (18.2%; n=4), industry trade associations (9.1%; n=2), public-interest organizations (9.1%; n=2), academic researchers (13.6%; n=3) and private foundations (13.6%; n=3). Design opportunities included breadth of creative marketing strategies including celebrities. Challenges were inadequate formative research conducted and confusion about the FNV brand and message content. Reach opportunities were social media and in-store fruit and vegetable retail potential, whereas challenges were underutilization of food-retail partnerships and desire for objective and rigorous evaluation data. Adoption opportunities were diverse sponsorship, assistance of local partners, and community excitement generated by FNV association. Adoption challenges were lack of a clear long-term communication plan between PHA and partners, limited flexibility for local adaptation, and lack of evidence to show that FNV brand or messages had increased fruit and vegetable sales or intake. Effectiveness and impact opportunities were some positive sales data from Virginia and public relations impressions. Challenges were a lack of targeted outcomes, limited transparency to share sales data and Campaign results with funders, and one-year pilot was inadequate to show positive effects. Expansion opportunities included potential to expand partnerships with SNAP retailers and untapped community-based supporters. Perceived challenges were that FNV targeted high-income food retailers were SNAP participants did not shop, and more than a campaign is needed to reach low-income consumers. Sustainability opportunities were well-resourced national partners and community-based organizations that could play a central role, and potential for commodity produce groups to support the Campaign. Challenges were sustaining clear communication with partners over time, fundraising, and keeping FNV brand and messages resonating with diverse audiences. Conclusions: This qualitative evaluation can inform the design and PHA partnership engagement strategy as the FNV campaign expands to other locations to increase fruit and vegetable sales and consumption among ethnically, racially and culturally diverse Americans. We offer four recommendations for evaluating the FNV Campaign’s effectiveness, impact and sustainability in other locations.
- Student Food Security Status at Virginia Tech: Virginia Tech Food Access and Wellbeing SurveyHolmes, Chanita; Hall, Ralph; Misyak, Sarah; Olayemi, Victor (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2024-10-02)There has been a growing acknowledgment and concern about college students experiencing food insecurity at institutions of higher education [1]. Experiencing food insecurity can impact educational attainment and performance as well as student quality of life [2]. This report describes the findings of the 2023 Virginia Tech Student Food Access and Wellbeing Survey, which was administered online during the Spring of 2023. The survey aimed to examine the level of food security among Virginia Tech undergraduate and graduate students.