The national school breakfast and lunch programs administered by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) are cornerstone federal nutrition assistance programs. School meals are one of the healthiest sources of foods for school-age children, which is significant as some children receive up to half of their daily calories at school. Policy opportunities in 2023 More

The COVID-19 pandemic is worsening the disparities in food access in the United States. As consumers have been increasingly using grocery online ordering services to limit their exposure to the COVID-19 virus, participants of federal nutrition assistance programs lack the online benefit redemption option. With the support of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), retailers More

Early childhood education (ECE) settings play an important role in child dietary intake and excess weight gain. Policy, systems, and environment (PSE) approaches have potential to reduce disparities in children at higher risk for obesity. The purpose of this review was to (1) characterize the inclusion of populations at higher risk for obesity in ECE More

This research brief gives an overview of the Water is K’é intervention, conducted among Navajo Nation families. The intervention was delivered by early care and education teachers to households with children ages 2-5, and covered the cultural importance of water, health benefits of water, and alternatives to sugary drinks. At baseline, more than 70% of children already More

This review identifies intervention strategies implemented within U.S. grocery retail stores that are effective in improving the healthfulness of shoppers’ food and beverage purchasing and consumption. Results from our review demonstrate that nutritional scoring and nutritional messaging were the most rigorously tested and effective interventions. Additionally, simple interventions yield the most successful results and minimize More

This review identifies the most promising intervention strategies for promoting the purchase and consumption of healthier items within U.S. grocery retail settings, with a particular focus on those strategies that may be most effective when implemented within SNAP-authorized retail settings. Searches of nine electronic databases, as well as forward and backward searches, yielded 1942 studies. More

This study used multiple methods (interviews, survey) to assess the experiences of stakeholders, sponsors, and center-based early care and education (ECE) program directors pertaining to child nutrition and the provision of child-care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected across four states. Thematic analyses of interviews and descriptive methods were used to analyze the data More

Identifying opportunities for program linkages and coordinating service delivery is critical to increasing program access, improving the experience of participating families, and, ultimately, improving health equity. This study provides an updated analysis of in-depth qualitative perspectives from state-level stakeholders on facilitators and barriers to integrated program enrollment across public benefit programs with a focus on More

School meal programs play a critical role in feeding children. Meals served in school are generally of better nutritional quality than those that students bring from home and have been linked to improved academic performance and household food security. The aim of this research brief is to highlight and summarize rigorous evidence from a new More

This study aimed to test the effects of countermarketing videos addressing common misperceptions about ingredients and claims on children’s sugary drinks. An online randomized controlled experiment was conducted in January 2021 with US caregivers (n = 600) of young children (aged 8‒37 months) to assess the effects of watching countermarketing versus control videos on intentions to serve More