Recent federal policies for revised school meals and Smart Snacks standards aimed for all children to have equitable access to health-promoting food environments. However, studies indicate that rural school, particularly at the secondary level, are lagging behind urban schools in the quality of policies and practices. The aims of this study are to: 1) identify More
Drinking water instead of sugar-sweetened beverages is an important obesity prevention strategy. Although schools have taken great strides to improve drinking water access, the water crisis in Flint, Mich., and its aftermath have highlighted the importance of assuring that the water provided in schools is safe to drink. This study will partner with national experts More
Reservation-based American Indian (AI) children suffer the highest rates of childhood obesity in the United States. This project will provide evidence to support the integration of childhood obesity prevention modules into government-funded home-visiting programs. It will also identify the role of water insecurity in sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) intake. The specific aims of the study are More
Out-of-School time (OST) programs are a promising setting for reducing child obesity risk by promoting healthy eating and providing opportunities for physical activity. The Healthy Out-of-School Time Coalition developed the National AfterSchool Association Healthy Eating and Physical Activity standards in 2011 to provide comprehensive guidance on how to promote healthy eating and physical activity. To More
This study aimed to examine the efficacy and cost of two water delivery systems—water dispensers with cups and water coolers with cups—in increasing students’ lunchtime intake of water in lower-income middle schools. Twelve middle schools in the San Francisco Bay Area participated in a cluster randomized control trial in which they were assigned to one More
The purpose of this project is to put safe drinking water in schools and child-care centers on par with other foods and beverages regulated by nutrition policies. The study will compile drinking water policies for schools and child-care centers in 20 states, use what has been learned by the healthy food and beverage procurement movement More
This study will develop and validate a photo-evidence method to measure effectiveness of water access in schools since the Healthy and Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 requires that potable water be available to children at no charge during mealtimes in areas where meals are served. The aims of this study are to: 1) develop and More
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently proposed updated nutrition standards for foods and beverages served in Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) participating child-care centers and homes. This study will contribute to the tracking of successes and challenges following implementation of the new nutrition standards, and will build off of two prior HER-funded More
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
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
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