Nutrition Policy Institute researchers are partnering with pediatrician and public health researcher Anisha Patel from Stanford University on a new National Institutes of Health-funded study to understand the impact of a childcare-based healthy beverage intervention. The study is titled, “A Multi-Level Intervention to Promote Healthy Beverage Intake through Childcare.” NPI researchers will be responsible for evaluating the intervention's impact on child drinking water intake and dietary intake. The study builds on NPI's previous collaboration with Patel to evaluate a similar intervention in school settings as part of “The Impact of School Water Access on Child Food and Beverage Intake and Obesity” study, also funded by the NIH. The NPI research team includes Lorrene Ritchie, cooperative extension specialist and director of NPI, who will be working with NPI's Christina Hecht, director of NPI's National Drinking Water Alliance, Suzanne Rauzon, Celeste Felix, Nicole Vital and Patricia Wakimoto. The five-year project began in August 2021.
Nutrition Policy Institute's Suzanne Rauzon received funding from the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute to conduct a community health needs assessment for community members served by Kaiser Permanente in California. The 10-month project began in February 2021.
- Author: Danielle L. Lee
Nutrition Policy Institute's (NPI) Lorrene Ritchie and Stanford Medicine Department of Pediatrics' Anisha Patel were awarded $149,545 from the Dairy Council of California to examine the effects of different milk types on young children's health. The pilot study will enroll 30 Northern California families with children 12 months old to receive either whole milk or non-fat milk. The type of milk optimal for the health of young children has not been clearly established. Therefore, the pilot study will examine how different milk types affect children's weight, length, waist circumference, heart health, cognitive development, and gut microbiota. Results from the pilot study will be used to inform a larger, more rigorous randomized control trial involving 500 children. The 14-month project began in March 2021 with NPI's Suzanne Rauzon as the project manager.
- Author: Danielle L. Lee
In May 2020, Nutrition Policy Institute researchers Suzanne Rauzon and Hallie Randel-Schreiber collaborated with Kaiser Permanente, Alliance for a Healthier Generation, and other national school health partners to survey educators across the nation about overall readiness to return to learning for the upcoming school year. Their results are available in a new research report released in July 2020, which describes the anticipated school health challenges, needs and priorities for schools in Fall 2020. Using findings from a survey and interviews of school staff and school health experts, the report examines the health challenges that are anticipated and resources needed to promote the physical and social-emotional health of the school community. It also includes reflections on the unexpected benefits or “silver linings” of the extensive disruption, rapid adaptations and changes experienced in spring 2020. The full report is available online.
In their latest study, Nutrition Policy Institute researchers found that staff in schools with sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) vending machines in staff lounges were more likely to report consuming one or more SSBs per day compared to staff without SSB vending in staff lounges. Future research to examine the impact of extending SSB regulations to the entire school environment on school staff SSB consumption is an important next step. The study was published online on May 27, 2020 in the journal Preventive Medicine Reports. The study was lead by NPI researchers Suzanne Rauzon, Hallie Randel-Schreiber, and Hannah Thompson in collaboration with Elena Kuo from Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Center for Community Health and Evaluation, and Pamela Schwartz and Annie Reed from Kaiser Permanente. Read the full study online.