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The Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health, formerly named the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, is a non-profit research and public policy organization that promotes solutions to
food insecurity Food security speaks to the availability of food in a country (or geography) and the ability of individuals within that country (geography) to access, afford, and source adequate foodstuffs. According to the United Nations' Committee on World F ...
, poor diet quality, and
weight bias Social stigma of obesity is broadly defined as bias or discriminatory behaviors targeted at overweight and obese individuals because of their weight. Such social stigmas can span one's entire life, as long as excess weight is present, starting ...
. Located in
Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
at
The University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Har ...
, the Rudd Center was co-founded in March 2005 at
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
by benefactor Leslie Rudd and
Kelly D. Brownell Kelly David Brownell (born October 31, 1951) is a clinical psychologist and scholar of public health and public policy at Duke University whose work focuses on obesity and food policy. He is a former dean of Duke's Sanford School of Public Policy. ...
. The Rudd Center moved from Yale to the University of Connecticut in December 2014.


Weight bias and stigma

The Rudd Center's research and policy efforts aimed at reducing
weight bias Social stigma of obesity is broadly defined as bias or discriminatory behaviors targeted at overweight and obese individuals because of their weight. Such social stigmas can span one's entire life, as long as excess weight is present, starting ...
are led by Deputy Director Dr. Rebecca Puhl. Her work shows that 40% of U.S. adults have reported experiences of weight-based teasing, unfair treatment, and discrimination.


Food marketing

In the United States, nearly $14 billion is spent per year on advertising by food, beverage, and restaurant companies, and much of this marketing promotes nutritionally poor foods. The Rudd Center works to analyze these food
marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...
tactics and inform policy efforts to reduce unhealthy food marketing. Additionally, they seek to raise awareness about the ways in which food companies unfairly target children, teens, and communities of color.


Economics and food security

The center focuses on the economic conditions underlying why certain demographics, primarily those that are less wealthy living in poorer areas, are subject to higher rates of obesity. The Center advocates policy to curb obesity by supporting legislation to regulate food labels and what children have access to in school zones. Examples of economic policies that the Rudd Center has published research on include the Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax and the
Child and Adult Care Food Program The 'Child and Adult Care Food Program'' (CACFP) is a type of United States federal assistance provided by the Food and Nutrition Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to states in order to provide a daily subsidized f ...
(CACFP.) In addition to the Center's economic research, they also conduct research on
food security Food security speaks to the availability of food in a country (or geography) and the ability of individuals within that country (geography) to access, afford, and source adequate foodstuffs. According to the United Nations' Committee on World F ...
in America. For example, the Center has published research on federal food assistance programs, non-governmental initiatives addressing food insecurity, and the charitable food system.


Public policy and government

The Rudd Center seeks to actively engage policy and lawmakers to influence outcomes on food policy, school and community nutrition, and anti-obesity campaigns. It maintains a legislative database through which researchers can search proposed legislation that affects current food policy and legislation filed in Congress.


Schools, families and communities

Much of the Rudd Center's work focuses on childhood wellness and nutrition. For example, the Center has published over two dozen studies on school wellness systems and the benefits of providing universal free
school meals A school meal or school lunch (also known as hot lunch, a school dinner, or school breakfast) is a meal provided to students and sometimes teachers at a school, typically in the middle or beginning of the school day. Countries around the world ...
.


References

Organizations established in 2005 Obesity organizations {{DEFAULTSORT:Rudd_Center_for_Food_Policy_and_Health