Focus Area: School & After School

Identifying Successful Childhood Obesity Interventions in Massachusetts Schools and Using Findings to Improve Programs at Schools Left Behind

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While overall prevalence of obesity improved in Massachusetts public schools between 2009 and 2014, prevalence remained unchanged for children living in poor, rural, and smaller communities. This project will identify which programs and activities have been effective in reducing childhood obesity among the successful schools, and use the information to guide future interventions for those More

Assessing Digital Food and Beverage Marketing in Middle Schools Nationally to Inform Policy to Restrict Marketers’ Access to Children

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This study aims to assess school digital marketing environments in a national sample of middle schools to identify opportunities and barriers to limit school-based marketing. This team previously developed a survey to assess digital marketing in schools as part of a previous HER-funded grant which will be used in this study. The specific aims of More

Refining and Disseminating a Valid, Reliable Quantitative Assessment Tool, WellSAT-I, to Measure Implementation of School Wellness Policies

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The primary goal of this project is to refine and disseminate a valid, reliable quantitative assessment tool to measure the implementation of school wellness policies use to meet the Healthy and Hunger-Free Kids Act mandate to evaluate and report on wellness policy implementation. The research team previously developed the WellSAT tool to assess written school More

Examining the Association Between Schools’ Nutrition Environment and Children’s Weight Status by Income and Race/Ethnicity

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There is interest among school administrators, researchers, and policymakers for information to guide choices in selecting school-based nutrition interventions and efficiently allocating resources. This study will systematically evaluate the nutrition strategies that schools across the country have initiated for obesity prevention to determine which school nutrition programs and policies are associated with higher or lower More

Examining State Policy Approaches to Promoting Implementation of Out-of-School Time Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Standards

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The purpose of this project is to examine the use of state policy approaches to promote the implementation of the National AfterSchool Association Healthy Eating and Physical Activity (NAA HEPA) standards. The research team will build a conceptual framework, elicit expert opinion on state policy approaches, analyze real-world experiences using case studies in two states, More

Effect of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act on the Nutritional Quality of Meals Selected by Students and School Lunch Participation Rates

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The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA), which took effect at the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year, updated the meal patterns and nutrition standards for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP) to align with the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. This study assessed changes in energy and nutrient density More

Association Between Student Purchases of Beverages During the School Commute and In-School Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages, San Francisco Bay Area, 2013

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The objective of this study was to describe where students from lower-income, ethnically diverse communities obtain the sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) they drink during school lunchtime and to examine whether students who purchase beverages while traveling to and from school are more likely to drink SSBs during lunchtime. This cross-sectional study used survey data from 597 More

Examining Policies Providing Access to Free Water in Schools and the Health Impact of an Alternative to Sugar-Sweetened Beverages

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This award will support a natural experiment that will (1) examine the change in free drinking water access in Food Service Areas in California public schools from before to after Senate Bill 1413/Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act implementation; (2) assess changes in the proportion of schools with excellent water access and barriers and facilitators to More

Implementation of Competitive Food and Beverage Standards in a Sample of Massachusetts Schools: The NOURISH Study (Nutrition Opportunities to Understand Reforms Involving Student Health)

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During 2012, Massachusetts adopted comprehensive school competitive food and beverage standards that closely align with Institute of Medicine recommendations and Smart Snacks in School national standards. The NOURISH study examined middle and high schools’ compliance with the Massachusetts standards after the first year of implementation. Employing an observational cohort study with a pre-/post-test design, researchers More