State: California

Differential Associations Between the Food Environment Near Schools and Childhood Overweight Across Race/Ethnicity, Gender, and Grade

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This paper discusses the results of a study that tested whether the associations between franchised fast-food restaurants or convenience store density near schools and childhood overweight varied by race/ethnicity, sex, and grade. Using data for 926,018 racially/ethnically diverse children in fifth, seventh, or ninth grade in 6,362 public California schools, researchers documented four findings in More

Providing Water With Meals is Not a Concern for Young Children: Summary of the Literature & Best Practice Recommendations

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Promoting water intake has been proposed in order to displace the intake of sugar-sweetened beverages, and new federal and California laws now require water availability in child-care settings. However, some child-care staff have voiced concerns that if young children are provided water with meals, they will fill up on the water and not consume enough More

Food Marketing to Children Through Toys: Response of Restaurants to the First U.S. Toy Ordinance

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Santa Clara County, California was the first U.S. jurisdiction to implement an ordinance that prohibits the distribution of toys and other incentives to children with meals, foods, or beverages that do not meet minimal nutrition criteria. This paper examines how ordinance-affected restaurants changed their children’s menus, child-directed marketing, and toy distribution practices relative to non-affected More

Evaluating the Impact of a California Statute Regulating Beverages Served in Licensed Child-Care Settings

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Because lifelong diet habits are shaped in early childhood, California Food Policy Advocates worked with the California Legislature to successfully pass legislation creating healthy beverage standards for all licensed child-care settings. California is among the first states to establish such standards for licensed child care. This project seeks to evaluate the impact of these standards. More

Encouraging Consumption of Water in School and Child Care Settings: Access, Challenges, and Strategies for Improvement

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Children and adolescents are not consuming enough water. Since children spend most of their day in school and child care settings, ensuring that safe, potable water is available in these settings is essential. This article identifies challenges that limit access to drinking water, including deteriorating drinking water infrastructure, limited drinking water availability, insufficient federal meal More

Healthy Food Availability and Participation in WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) in Food Stores Around Lower- and Higher-Income Elementary Schools

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This paper examines the range of food outlets around lower- and higher-income urban schools and compares the availability of healthy food items in those stores. It also examines whether stores accepting vouchers for WIC, a federal program for improving health and nutrition of lower-income mothers and their children, have more healthy items available than stores More