- Author: Jean Aquino
- Editor: Hannah Thompson
- Editor: Danielle Lee
An article in EdSource by Hannah Thompson of the Nutrition Policy Institute and Rebecca London of the University of California Santa Cruz discussed the impacts of the “Recess for All” law in California schools. The law requires at least 30 minutes of recess in elementary schools and bans taking away recess as punishment. Research in education and child development has found that recess benefits behavioral, mental, and physical health in students. Surveys of students have found that recess is a popular subject statewide. Recess also helped students recover from social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. It can help students develop interpersonal skills and later focus in the classroom and improve learning. The “Recess for All” law has helped create equity among schools, as students of color and in low-income areas have historically had less recess time. However, the benefits of recess have been underestimated with the rise in standardized testing and decrease in recess and arts during the No Child Left Behind era. Hopefully, with the support of parents and students, the “Recess for All” law can be implemented equally throughout California elementary schools.
A 2024 article by Matthew Yoshimoto of The Daily Californian discussed Berkeley's 2014 soda tax, and its presence on the ballot in November 2024. Since its implementation, the soda tax, a 1-cent-per-ounce excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, has had drastic impacts on community health. By 2017, consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages decreased by over 50% and water consumption increased by almost 30%. The revenue has funded efforts to improve the nutrition environment in the low-income and minority communities hardest hit by the sugary drinks. NPI's Ken Hecht highlighted that health in Black and Latine communities has especially benefited from the soda tax's direct and indirect effects. The soda tax has also helped in the efforts to combat childhood obesity. According to a study by Kaiser Permanente, cities where the tax is implemented did not show an increase in childhood obesity rates while rates are increasing elsewhere. Berkeley's change has had a positive ripple effect, with cities including Oakland and San Francisco following with their own taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages. Though the soda tax has had overwhelming support from voters, due to push back from soda companies there are new legislative barriers concerning the tax. While a tax increase is currently not an option for Berkeley, there is hope that in November 2024, voters will consider the positive effects of the soda tax and support its indefinite renewal.
A 2024 article by Lela Nargi of The Guardian discussed the issue of potable water in schools and how inconsistent regulation can put children at risk for under-hydration or lead exposure. The article highlighted a 2022 study by NPI's Christina Hecht and collaborators and included quotes from Hecht, who described the development of legislation for drinking water in the federal child nutrition programs. In 2010, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act made free potable drinking water a requirement during meal times at all US schools participating in the National School Lunch Program and childcare facilities participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program. However, states' varied implementation of the law plus a lack of funding for drinking water needs has left some schools with inadequate water sources or compromised quality. While a 2019 USDA survey of 1,257 schools indicated a 95% compliance rate with the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, experts including Christina Hecht, who coordinates the National Drinking Water Alliance with the Nutrition Policy Institute, highlight how this survey did not collect adequate data to determine whether safe and appealing drinking water was truly accessible. Lead contamination is a primary concern. Hecht and partners' 2022 study found 13% to 81% of 5,688 schools in seven states with available data had tap water with lead levels above 5 parts per billion (ppb). For comparison, FDA requires that bottled water have no more than 5 ppb of lead while the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a maximum of 1 ppb for school drinking water. States have varying requirements for lead testing of school and licensed childcare drinking water and, while federal funds for testing have been available since 2016 through an EPA-administered program, it was only with the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021 that federal funds were allocated to assist schools with remediation of lead in tap water.
Outside interviewed Nutrition Policy Institute researcher and physical activity expert Hannah Thompson for a March 31, 2024 article, “School Fitness Testing Is a Nightmare. Should We Get Rid of It?” In the article, Thompson addresses why cardiovascular fitness is a better predictor of children's future health than body mass index, which is commonly known as BMI. “Even in the ‘overweight' category, BMI is not necessarily predictive of poor metabolic health. Cardiovascular fitness is.” Her interview provided context to recent changes in school fitness testing in California. The California Department of Education suspended student body mass index reporting as part of FITNESSGRAM® data collection in January 2022, citing concerns about mental health, accessibility and gender equity. “PE is not supposed to impact BMI,” said Thompson. “The whole idea of physical education—apart from recess or other physical activity opportunities—is to help younger students build the foundation and skills to go on and be active later in life.”
National Public Radio's Shots health news interviewed Nutrition Policy Institute's Hannah Thompson on a 2022 study that showed that letters home from school on childhood obesity had no effect on student weight. The interview was featured in an April 9, 2024 NPR article titled “Arkansas led the nation sending letters home from school about obesity. Did it help?” Thompson is quoted, "It's such a tiny-touch behavioral intervention,” stating that parents don't know what to do with information about their child being overweight. “You find out your child is asthmatic, and you can get an inhaler, right?" Thompson said. "You find out that your child is overweight and where do you even go from there? What do you do?” Thompson and her collaborators' study findings are timely as school districts across the nation, including in California, are eliminating measurement of students' height and weight to calculate and report body mass index, commonly known as BMI, which is used as a proxy for body fat composition to assess for overweight and obesity. This is due to recent scrutiny from the American Medical Association of using BMI alone to assess obesity, given it does not consider differences across racial and ethnic groups, sex, gender and age.