Nutrition Policy Institute News

A recent commentary on school-based physical fitness testing presents it as a valuable tool for addressing the crisis in childhood physical inactivity and chronic diseases when integrated into well-supported physical education programs. Currently, fitness testing is required in 16 states, providing…

U.S. federal safety net programs provide food, nutrition, and health care assistance to eligible low-income individuals and families, with many of these programs expanding benefits and easing enrollment requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using longitudinal survey data from the ACCESS cohort…

A publication in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior by Nutrition Policy Institute researchers and collaborators exploring school food authorities perspectives on the impact of deimplementing Universal Free School Meal policies was voted by the journal as a Best Paper finalist. All…

Universal School Meals programs provide free meals to all students, improving diet quality while reducing food insecurity and stigma; however, many eligible students still do not participate. In a recent study published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, researchers examined parents’…

Federal legislation signed in July 2025 eliminated funding for SNAP-Ed, the largest public-sector nutrition and physical activity education and promotion program in the US. A new research brief from the Nutrition Policy Institute details how California local health departments, or LHDs, worked to wind-down…