Resource Type: Grant Summary

Evaluating Methods for Increasing Public Support for Policies Regulating Food Marketing to Children

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Through this research, investigators will develop and test experimental methods for increasing public support for policies regulating food marketing to children. The significance of this project lies in its potential for identifying persuasive appeals (referred to as message frames) to enhance public support for childhood obesity prevention policies. Examples of such message framing have been More

Survey of Eating Environments and Policies in Head Start

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The aim of this study is to describe eating environments and policies in Head Start at the national level, examining their variation by program characteristics. In partnership with DHHS and USDA, this project will develop a survey to describe eating environments and policies in Head Start (including issues such as foods offered, use of nutrient-based More

Evaluating Whether NYC Group Day Cares Meet New City-Mandated Physical Activity and Nutrition Policies and Assessing Perceived Implementation Issues

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In 2007, the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene added physical activity and nutrition policies for group daycare centers to the NYC Health Code. This project will evaluate whether NYC group daycares meet the new policies, and assess perceived difficulties, barriers, and predictors of implementation associated with these policies. Survey data will be collected More

Evaluating the Impact of Two School Nutrition Policy and Environmental Interventions on Low-Income Middle-School Students in Michigan

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The primary goal of this project is to evaluate the impact of two interventions on improved nutrition behaviors among low-income students. These on-going interventions have been initiated by key stakeholder groups in response to current school nutrition/wellness legislation. In the first intervention, low-income middle schools will receive access to comprehensive online tools, mentoring assistance, and More

Measuring, Analyzing and Examining Food Spending and Nutritional Quality in Family Day Care Participants in the USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program

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The aim of this project is to examine how food costs and reimbursement rates impact the dietary quality of foods that are served in family day care homes. Taking advantage of a unique policy-analysis opportunity to assess the effects of different subsidy levels for providers in adjacent urban regions, this project will compare nutritional quality More

Analyzing Legal Factors Influencing the Food Environment in Extracurricular and Other School-Related Settings Outside School Administration Control

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Extracurricular school settings are an essential part of the school food environment but are often outside direct school regulation or are poorly enforced. Using legal analyses, this project will produce three issues briefs on (i) school stores, events, and concessions; (ii) fundraising; and (iii) open campus policies. These briefs will provide an overview of each More

Developing a Computer Model of School Food Policies That Will Simulate Their Effects on Youth Overweight and Obesity Rates

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The key objective of this project is to develop a computer simulation model of school food policies that will simulate their effects on youth overweight and obesity rates. This computer model also will provide a user-friendly synthesis of current research, which will provide an accessible means by which practitioners, schools, and other stakeholders might develop More

Examining the Role of Street Vendors in the After School Eating Environment Among Elementary and Middle School Children in Low-Income Neighborhoods

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The proposed study will increase knowledge about the role of street vendors in the after-school eating environment among elementary and middle school children in low-income neighborhoods. The overall aim is to examine whether mobile vendors are a feasible vehicle for the sales of fresh fruits, vegetables and healthy snacks, and to evaluate a community-based quasi-experimental More

Creating a Self-Report Instrument Measuring the Child Care Nutrition Environment and Providing Evidence of the Instrument’s Reliability and Validity

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The aim of this study is to create a self-report instrument which will measure the child care nutrition environment and provide evidence for the reliability of scores and validity of inferences from this instrument. By creating a clear, easily understandable instrument that can be used across a range of child care centers to provide reliable More

Evaluating the Efficacy of a Healthy Corner Store Initiative in Reducing Childhood Obesity

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This project will evaluate the efficacy of a community-based, environmental intervention in urban corner stores located near schools. By targeting multiple aspects of the corner store environment (e.g., social, educational, food availability), the goal of this intervention is to decrease the purchase of high calorie snacks and beverages and increase the percentage of healthy snacks More