State: National

Developing and Evaluating the Effectiveness of Pictorial Health Warnings on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages to Overcome Language and Literacy Barriers

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Childhood obesity is a major public health problem in the U.S. among racial and ethnic minorities, including among the growing Latino population in the U.S. One promising but understudied policy for addressing childhood obesity is requiring health warnings on the front of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) containers. Pictorial warnings in particular hold promise for overcoming language More

Evaluation of the USDA FINI Program Finds Benefits for Consumers, Farmers and Retailers, and Local Economies

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In December 2018, Congress passed a new farm bill which included a reauthorization of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) Grant Program. This brief summarizes the findings of a recent qualitative evaluation of FINI, which concludes that the program has benefits for consumers, farmers and retailers, and local economies. This More

State Policies on Testing Drinking Water for Lead in U.S. Schools

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This Brief summarizes select characteristics of state-level policies and programs to test for lead in school drinking water. It is based on a study from researchers at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and the University of California Nutrition Policy Institute. The full results of the study, study methods, and state profiles More

Insights and Best Practices in the Inclusion of Healthy Eating, Physical Activity, and Wellness Provisions in State ESSA Plans and Implementation Efforts

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The objectives of the project are: 1) conduct a 50-state (plus D.C.) analysis of state Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plans to identify nutrition, activity, and wellness-related provisions; 2) compare the results from the ESSA plan analysis to state nutrition, activity, and wellness-related laws to determine which states are collectively prioritizing these issues in policy More

A Qualitative Evaluation of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) Grant Program

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This research describes findings from interviews conducted with grantees of multi-year community-based and large-scale projects funded by the FINI mechanism, as well as with stakeholders who could speak to FINI on a broader level. A total of 22 interviews were conducted with 19 organizations. Key elements addressed in this evaluation include: 1) Best practices and More

Childhood Obesity: ECE Policy and Practice Special Journal Issue

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Childhood Obesity published a special theme journal issue on early care and education programs (ECE) policy and practice. It unites a group of outstanding researchers focusing on the role of policies and practices within ECE programs to support healthy practices. Each article addresses one or more important influences, including public policies, such as the federally More

Parents’ Reports of Fast-Food Purchases for Their Children: Have They Improved?

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Few research studies have examined the menu items that parents purchase for their children at fast-food restaurants or their attitudes about healthier kids’ meals. The purpose of this research was to document specific menu items that parents reported purchasing for their children at the top fast-food restaurant chains, attitudes about the restaurants, frequency of fast-food More

A National Research Agenda to Reduce Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Increase Safe Water Access and Consumption Among Zero- to Five-Year-Olds

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Early childhood is a critical period for developing food preferences and dietary patterns. Despite dietary recommendations to limit or eliminate sugary drinks in early childhood, children ages 0 to 5 frequently drink these beverages. There is currently a lack of evidence on effective policy, systems, and environmental strategies to reduce sugary drink consumption and provide More

Best Practices and Innovative Solutions to Overcome Barriers to Delivering Policy, Systems and Environmental Changes in Rural Communities

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This study investigated the barriers to implementing policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) change initiatives within Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) programming in U.S. rural communities, as well as strategies to overcome these barriers. SNAP-Ed staff members across 15 states were surveyed and/or interviewed regarding the types nutrition-related PSE programming currently being implemented, barriers to implementation, More

Equity Arguments in News Reporting on School Nutrition Policy

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This content analysis investigated equity-based arguments featured in news debate over federal school nutrition policy. Analyses of national and local print and broadcast news between September 1, 2014-December 31, 2015 were conducted to examine arguments rooted in appeals about equity and/or disparities. Overall, equity and/or disparities appeals appeared in 24% of television, 14% of national More