Schools Find Success in Reducing Sodium in Meals

Strong nutrition standards for school meals, consistent with evidence-based recommendations, position children for optimal health and wellbeing. Strong science supports the link between lowering sodium intake and better health. This new issue brief from Healthy Eating Research examines the recent history of sodium standards for school meals. It highlights current sodium intake among America’s children and School More

Nutritional Problems in Childhood and Adolescence: A Narrative Review of Identified Disparities

To inform programs and policies that promote health equity, it is essential to monitor the distribution of nutritional problems among young individuals. Common nutritional problems include overall low diet quality, the underconsumption and overconsumption of certain dietary components, unhealthy meal and snack patterns, problematic feeding practices and disordered eating. The objective of the present narrative More

Studying facilitators and barriers in coupon redemption for fruits and vegetables by Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children participants

The Special Supplemental Nutrition program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a federally-funded nutrition assistance program supporting low-income women, infants, and children. The Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) provides WIC clients with coupons to purchase fruits and vegetables from approved farmers markets in addition to their regular WIC benefits. Research is inconclusive about the More

Providing actionable evidence for equity-focused strategies to improve diet quality and food security for low-income pregnant women and for infants

Households with children ages 6 and younger are at a particularly high risk of food insecurity (14.3% food insecure). These are also the households in which new pregnancies are most likely to occur. The Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is designed to improve the health of low-income pregnant and post-partum women, More

Improving the actionable research base for health equity in breastfeeding by assessing an intervention to increase rates in minority populations

Breastfeeding equity is a critical component of nutrition-related equity. Breastfeeding rates in the United States are strongly correlated with poverty and race. Communities and Hospitals Advancing Maternity Practices (CHAMPS) is a multi-sectoral, policy, system, and environmental initiative which has significantly increased breastfeeding rates among black populations. CHAMPS was launched in Mississippi (MS) in 2014. Since More

The Food Environment in Juvenile Justice Residential Facilities in North Carolina

This research brief summarizes findings from an exploratory study of a diverse sample of juvenile justice residential facilities in North Carolina conducted by RTI International. The study examined food service operations, agency and facility level policies and practices pertaining to nutrition, participation in federal school nutrition programs, and additional food service funding sources. The overall More

Leveraging Juvenile Justice Food Environments to Advance Health Equity

Researchers and advocates have drawn attention to the public health consequences of mass incarceration and its contribution to racial health disparities in the United States. The conditions within juvenile justice facilities may influence long-term health outcomes for African-American, Latino, and Native American populations, who are more likely than white youth to be placed in these More

How Much Can Product Reformulation Improve Diet Quality in Households with Children and Adolescents?

Improvements in the healthfulness of packaged foods and beverages through reformulation could help reduce the prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents through improved diet quality. This study assessed changes in calories and four nutrients (saturated fat, total sugars, sodium, and dietary fiber) from 2012 through 2014 for packaged products frequently consumed by children and More