Michele Polacsek is co-author on three journal articles published this week.

Michele Polacsek PhD MHS, professor of public Health, Director of the UNE Center for Excellence in Public Health (CEPH) is co-author on three journal articles published this week.

  • Published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, the first article evaluates the changes in the calorie content of prepared foods at 2 large U.S. supermarket chains after they implemented calorie labels in April 2017. Prepared bakery items decreased by 7.7 calories per item after calorie labels were implemented. Supply-side changes could lead to reductions in caloric intake. https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1dBjh2gOwG4dq5
  • Published in the Journal of Nutrition, Education and Behavior, the second article describes the grocery shopping patterns of people who shopped both online and in-store. When shopping online, participants spent more per transaction and purchased more items. Compared with in-store, shopping online was associated with reduced spending per transaction on candy, cold or frozen desserts, and grain-based desserts. Online shopping was associated with lower spending on certain unhealthy, impulse-sensitive foods. Grocery-based healthy eating initiatives might leverage online ordering platforms to increase their reach and effectiveness. https://www.jneb.org/article/S1499-4046(21)00081-6/fulltext

There is a new Scientist article about this research that can be accessed here: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2279892-us-consumers-spend-less-on-sweets-and-dessert-when-shopping-online/