American journal of preventive medicine
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Children enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are at higher risk of poor diet, including higher intake of sugar-sweetened beverages than non-Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants. This study aims to identify the impact of restricting sugar-sweetened beverage purchases with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits on children's consumption and health. ⋯ Restricting sugar-sweetened beverage purchases in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program could promote a healthier diet and significantly lower the incidence of dental caries and potentially obesity prevalence in children.
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The use of multiple substances heightens the risk of overdose. Multiple substances, including alcohol, are commonly found among people who experience overdose-related mortality. However, the associations between alcohol use and the use of a range of other substances are often not assessed. Therefore, this study examines the associations between drinking patterns (e.g., binge drinking) and other substance use in the U.S., the concurrent use of alcohol and prescription drug misuse, and how other substance use varies by binge-drinking frequency. ⋯ Binge drinking was associated with other substance use and concurrent prescription drug misuse while drinking. These findings can guide the implementation of a comprehensive approach to prevent binge drinking, substance misuse, and overdoses. This might include population-level strategies recommended by the Community Preventive Services Task Force to prevent binge drinking (e.g., increasing alcohol taxes and regulating alcohol outlet density).
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Exercise and dietary behavioral counseling are effective clinical practices recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force to reduce cardiovascular disease risk among high-risk individuals. ⋯ Despite modest improvements since 2002, up to 37% of individuals at high cardiovascular disease risk were not receiving exercise counseling, and 43% were not receiving dietary counseling in 2015. Continued implementation and scale up of effective programs to increase behavioral lifestyle counseling among high-risk populations are needed more than ever to mitigate the U.S. cardiometabolic disease burden.
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Item descriptions on restaurant menus often include claims about health and other attributes, and these are much less regulated than the language on packaged food labels. This study tests whether menu items with claims have different nutritional content from items without claims. ⋯ Items with claims were high in nutrients to limit. Additional efforts to increase transparency around excessive ingredients, such as the sodium warning labels, could be implemented by the restaurant industry.