Clear, evidence-based guidance on what foods and beverages children and adolescents should consume—and in what amounts—is foundational for promoting healthy growth and preventing diet-related chronic disease across the life course. Yet many children and adolescents in the US continue to have diets of poor nutritional quality. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs), issued every 5 More

Despite growing interest in ultraprocessed foods (UPFs), there is not consensus on how to define UPFs for policy purposes. To meet this need, Healthy Eating Research convened an expert panel to develop evidence-informed recommendations for policymakers and advocates interested in advancing policies to limit UPF exposure and consumption at the local, state, and federal levels. More

Most children and adolescents in the U.S. fall short of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, with disparities by race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and geography. As K-12 students consume much of their daily nutrition from school meals, this scoping review sought to document reported impacts of Farm to School (F2S) programs on child-level food-related outcomes More

This study explored how increased Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits interacted for dually enrolled households. Twenty-five parents dually enrolled in WIC and SNAP in the spring of 2020 shared perceptions of expanded benefits and reduced administrative requirements via semistructured interviews. Specifically, parents shared More

Given recent changes to nutrition policies and programs and the food environment landscape, the need for new evidence on how these changes impact nutrition, health, and food access is greater than ever. HER has also published a research agenda intended to provide a blueprint for immediate (i.e., 12-18 month) research needs to inform strategies to More

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Summer Meal Programs (SMPs) are funded to ensure children from households with low incomes continue to have access to food over the summer months when most schools are closed for instruction. However, these programs are underutilized compared with school meal programs, in part due to barriers to accessing SMPs. More

Researchers developed a culturally-grounded intervention to promote healthy beverage consumption among Navajo children aged 2–5 years. This study, which took place from 2021–2023, evaluated prepost changes in beverage habits and caregiver knowledge and attitudes. This was a prospective cohort study with prepost evaluation. Children attending participating early child education sites and their primary caregivers were More

In March 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic triggered lockdowns in several states, which immediately affected the number of children served by the CACFP. Nationally, there was a 23% reduction in the number of meals served through CACFP in 2020 compared with 2019. From July 2021 through June 2023, a series of USDA waivers More

Approximately 74% of schools in the United States participated in at least one farm-to-school (F2S) activity during the 2022 to 2023 school year. Relationships between specific F2S activities, particularly local food procurement, and health outcomes across multiple levels (individual, family, community, and population) have not been systematically reviewed and reported. This systematic review examined relationships More

At least eight U.S. states currently offer universal free school meal programs, providing meals at no cost to all students regardless of household income. While marketing campaigns may help increase student participation, limited research has examined what message content and design most effectively motivate parents to encourage school meal use. This qualitative study explored parents’ More