Feeding Children and Maintaining Food Service Operations during COVID-19: A Mixed Methods Investigation of Implementation and Financial Challenges

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs are critical for the health and food security of U.S. schoolchildren, but access to these programs was disrupted by COVID-19 pandemic-related school closures in spring 2020. While temporary policy changes to the programs enabled school food authorities (SFAs) to pivot towards distributing More

Food Environment Near Schools and Body weight-A Systematic Review of Associations by race/ethnicity, Gender, Grade, and Socio-Economic Factors

Previous research reported modest associations between food environments near schools and adiposity among children overall. The associations within sociodemographic subgroups have not been synthesized. This review assessed the evidence on the associations between food environments near schools and childhood obesity within different demographic and socio-economic subgroups. PubMed and Scopus databases were searched to identify studies More

A Framework for Increasing Equity Impact in Obesity Prevention

One of the most pressing unmet challenges for preventing and controlling epidemic obesity is ensuring that socially disadvantaged populations benefit from relevant public health interventions. Obesity levels are disproportionately high in ethnic minority, low-income, and other socially marginalized U.S. population groups. Current policy, systems, and environmental change interventions target obesity-promoting aspects of physical, economic, social, More

Technical Scientific Report. Healthy Beverage Consumption in Early Childhood: Recommendations from Key National Health and Nutrition Organizations

Research shows that what children drink – from birth through age 5 – can have a big impact on their health, as beverages make a significant contribution to dietary intake during this period. However, with so many choices available in the marketplace, it can be confusing for parents and caregivers to know which drinks are More

Consensus Statement. Healthy Beverage Consumption in Early Childhood: Recommendations from Key National Health and Nutrition Organizations

Research shows that what children drink – from birth through age 5 – can have a big impact on their health, as beverages make a significant contribution to dietary intake during this period. However, with so many choices available in the marketplace, it can be confusing for parents and caregivers to know which drinks are More

Promoting Responsive Bottle-Feeding Practices Among Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Mothers to Reduce Infants’ Rapid Weight Gain and Obesity

Bottle-fed infants are at significantly greater risk for overfeeding and rapid weight gain (RWG), yet few studies focus on promoting healthy feeding practices for bottle-feeding caregivers. Bottle-feeding caregivers receive little support related to learning appropriate bottle-feeding practices, and this problem is pronounced in low-income, minority populations at higher risk for bottle-feeding, use of unhealthy feeding More

Studying the Impact of Financial Incentives at Point of Purchase on Low-Income Consumers’ Purchase of Healthy Food and, Subsequently, on Family Health

To address diet quality disparities in low-income families, policymakers and health experts recommend strategies such as financial incentives to promote consumption of fruits and vegetables (FVs). Real-time incentives for purchasing FV and variable incentives are promising, untested strategies to improve families’ diets and health. The goal of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of More

Examining State-Level Strategies to Implement Child-Care Licensing Regulations on Healthy Eating, Physical Activity, and Screen Time for Children

State child care licensing regulations, which specify the standards for practice to which child care providers must adhere to be licensed, can be a policy tool for ensuring that child care providers use healthy nutrition, physical activity, and screen time practices. However, what state agencies do to support child care providers in actually implementing these More

A National Research Agenda to Reduce Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Increase Safe Water Access and Consumption Among Zero- to Five-Year-Olds

Early childhood is a critical period for developing food preferences and dietary patterns. Despite dietary recommendations to limit or eliminate sugary drinks in early childhood, children ages 0 to 5 frequently drink these beverages. There is currently a lack of evidence on effective policy, systems, and environmental strategies to reduce sugary drink consumption and provide More