The Farm Bill and Public Health: An Overview

This paper was written before the passage of the 2007 Farm Bill in December 2007, but the text effectively describes how this new bill (written in anticipation of the legislation’s passage) affects not only farmers and rural communities but the environment, public health, and even socioeconomic variables. In addition to presenting a background on the More

Study of Environmental and Policy Factors Impacting Healthy Eating Behaviors for Low-Income Elementary Students in Colorado

This project is designed to identify and evaluate environmental and policy features related to healthy eating among elementary schools located throughout low-income, Hispanic and non-Hispanic, urban and rural Colorado. In a longitudinal design, student diet recalls and school level food-related sales records will be used to assess diet and eating patterns over time. Environmental and More

Policy Legislation and Nutrition (PLAN): What Works to Improve Student Health

The Policy Legislation and Nutrition (PLAN) study will examine the impact of state and local policies on the school nutrition environment and on the students’ dietary behaviors. Data will be collected from 64 rural and urban middle schools in Washington State, stratified by income level and ethnicity. Data will include policy quality, policy implementation, inventories More

The Role of Child-Care Settings in Obesity Prevention

A majority of American children participate in non-parental child-care arrangements in child-care centers and homes. The child-care setting can play a major role in shaping children’s dietary intake, physical activity, and energy balance. In this article, the authors discuss trends in child-care use, child-care food and physical activity policies and environments, and obesity prevention interventions More