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. 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 ...

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 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 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 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 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.

References

Organizations established in 2005 Obesity organizations {{DEFAULTSORT:Rudd_Center_for_Food_Policy_and_Health