Feeding Infants and Young Toddlers: Using the Latest Evidence in WIC Settings

Early life diet and feeding behaviors play an important role in establishing healthy food preferences and behaviors and are crucial for preventing childhood overweight and obesity. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is a key program that targets nutrition of low-income pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and children up to More

Studying the Impact of Food Reformulation on Child and Adolescent Obesity and What Motivates Manufacturers to Reformulate Foods

Improvements in the healthiness of packaged foods and beverages consumed by children and adolescents could have an impact on obesity through improved dietary intake patterns. Food manufacturers have new incentives to reformulate foods in response to changes in the Nutrition Facts label (NFL) and serving sizes scheduled to go into effect in 2018. The overall More

Studying the Impact of State and Federal Child Nutrition Policies on Understudied Population Subgroups with the Highest Rates of Obesity

To date, limited studies have examined the impact of federal and state nutrition policies targeting foods and beverages in schools on obesity, and none have specifically focused on children in populations with highest obesity rates: Filipinos, Pacific Islanders and Native American children and those in rural areas. This quasi-experimental study will examine the California competitive More

Examining the Public Debate on School Food Nutrition Guidelines: Findings and Lessons Learned from an Analysis of News Coverage and Legislative Debates in 11 States

To understand how advocates, schools, the food industry, policymakers, and others have shaped discussions about school nutrition at the state and local level since the passage of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA), Berkeley Media Studies Group and the Public Health Advocacy Institute systematically examined news coverage and legislative and regulatory documents from 11 states. More

Evaluating the Impact of Subsidizing Purchases of Fresh Produce in Supermarkets for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Recipients

The 2014 Farm Bill Authorization included $100 million to promote the purchase of fresh produce among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants through matching financial incentives for every SNAP dollar spent on fresh produce. As part of this, the Fair Food Network (FFN) received over $5 million to expand its SNAP match program, Double Up More

How Do We Actually Put Smarter Snacks in Schools? NOURISH (Nutrition Opportunities to Understand Reforms Involving Student Health) Conversations with Food-Service Directors

In 2012, Massachusetts implemented a state law to establish nutrition standards for competitive foods and beverages sold or provided in public schools, similar to the federal Smart Snacks in School standards. This mixed-methods study aimed to understand food service directors’ (FSD) perspectives and experiences implementing the Massachusetts standards. The study used direct observation of foods More

Examining State and Local-level Debates about School Nutrition Guidelines since the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act

The purpose of this project is to understand how advocates, the food industry, policymakers, and others have shaped discussions about school nutrition at the state and local level since the passage of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) by systematically examining news coverage and legislative documents from selected states. The study will specifically examine: 1) More