The Nutrition Policy Institute is seeking to hire data collectors to contribute to a study in childcare centers across San Jose and Gilroy, Calif. The study consists of a multi-level intervention to promote healthy beverage intake through childcare—Healthy Drinks, Healthy Futures or Bebidas Saludables, Futuros Saludables. Data collectors will observe and measure the amount of water and food children consume in one day at child care. They will need to: have the ability to sit/stand for at least 4 hours; be patient, detail-oriented, and observant; have relevant experience in the field of nutrition and dietetics; candidates with an interest in pediatric nutrition are preferred; have the ability to use scales, calculators, and are familiar with the rigor needed to perform quality research. Opportunity to participate in further work, such as data analysis, data entry, and manuscript publication is an option. This study will begin in late August or September 2024. Data collection will occur between 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. with a two-hour lunch break. We are seeking those available to work one to four days a week for three to four weeks. The rate of pay for a Survey Worker is around $28 per hour. Travel costs are covered. To apply, please email Reka Vasicsek at rvasicsek@ucanr.edu by September 1, 2024. The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected categories covered by the UC nondiscrimination policy.
- Author: Danielle Lee
- Editor: Lorrene D Ritchie
The federal Child and Adult Care Food Program, commonly known as CACFP, ensures over 4.2 million children, mostly in families with low income, receive nutritious meals and snacks in childcare. However, not all qualifying childcare providers participate in this beneficial program. Research suggests that the serious deficiency process, designed to ensure program integrity, may hinder participation. Interviews with ten California CACFP sponsors—who administer the program for family childcare home providers and some centers—highlight key issues. Sponsors find the process too harsh, disqualifying providers for simple mistakes, creating equity issues for those with limited technology skills or non-English speakers, and being subjective, unclear and time consuming. These findings are timely as the USDA considers improvements. The full research brief, “CACFP Family Childcare Home Sponsor Perspectives - Serious Deficiency Challenges,” was published by the Nutrition Policy Institute, University of California, Berkeley, and the CACFP Roundtable. This research is part of a larger project funded by Healthy Eating Research, and national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
- Author: Brianna Aguayo Villalon
- Editor: Danielle Lee
- Editor: Lorrene Ritchie
Milk provides various nutrients such as calcium, protein, and vitamin D, which are essential for health and brain development. In the US, it is advised that children switch from the recommended whole cow's milk from ages 1-2 to low-fat or non-fat milk after age 2 to reduce saturated fat and calorie intake, however, few studies support this recommendation. Nutrition Policy Institute researchers and Anisha Patel with the Stanford Medicine Department of Pediatrics recently received funding for a research study from the National Institute of Health. The study, Milk Type in Toddlers or Milk-TOT, includes a randomized controlled trial that will investigate how whole and low-fat 1% milk affect child adiposity, dietary intake, and health outcomes, aiming to provide evidence-based recommendations for dietary guidelines. The California Dairy Research Foundation provided additional funding to include the assessment of the impacts of varying milk types on participating children's gut microbiota diversity, in collaboration with Justin Sonnenburg with the Stanford Medicine Department of Microbiology and Immunology. Parents or caregivers with children between 23-30 months old living in the San Francisco Bay Area may be eligible to participate in the study. The four-year project began in January 2024 and is estimated to end in June 2028. The project is led by Lorrene Ritchie as the principal investigator, and NPI researchers, Kassandra Bacon, Ryan Williams, Suzanne Rauzon, Celeste Felix, Hannah Thompson, Fanta Jimissa, Reka Vasicsek and Meirong Liao.
The University of California's Nutrition Policy Institute released brief training videos to aid family child care home providers in promoting proper nutrition among young children. Current California law mandates only an hour of nutrition training for child care providers licensed after 2015, omitting over 30,000 providers who care for nearly 310,000 children. To address this gap, NPI has unveiled seven brief videos, each under 60 seconds, in English and Spanish. These videos, which can be freely used by educators, align with evidence-based recommendations for what and how to feed infants and toddlers. They were developed for the one-hour online trainings, "Infant and Toddler Feeding Recommendations for Family Child Care Home Providers," available in Spanish as well. While California providers can access the trainings for free, those outside the state can access them for $15. Each training concludes with a completion certificate. The UC Nutrition Policy Institute collaborated with UCSF California Childcare Health Program, UCSF School of Nursing, UC Cooperative Extension, and UC Agriculture and Natural Resources News and Outreach in Spanish for this project, supported by a UC ANR grant.
- Author: Katherine Lanca
- Editor: Danielle L. Lee
- Editor: Wendi Gosliner
The United States responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by expanding a variety of social safety net programs. Policy responses across the U.S. included workplace protections, workers compensation, and a provision of childcare for essential workers. However, families' experiences with the pandemic-related changes to safety net programs are still not well explored. University of California researchers conducted a study to understand take up, utilization, and experiences with social safety net programs among families with young children in California during COVID-19. Thirty four California parents and caregivers of young children were interviewed from August 2020 to April 2021. Interviewees reported experiencing some benefits of increased safety net support early in the pandemic, including improved food security and counseling support for those studying at community colleges. But generally, parents reported being overwhelmed and stressed and that insufficient childcare and housing instability were not addressed by the social safety net system. Study findings suggest that policy responses carry potential to alleviate economic-related stressors, like food insecurity and also highlight a critical need to strengthen support for families. This study was conducted by the Assessing California Communities' Experiences with Safety Net Supports Survey (ACCESS) study team, including: Alyssa Mooney, Kaitlyn Jackson, Rita Hamad, and Mekhala Hoskote from the UC San Francisco, Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, Lia C.H. Fernald from the UC Berkeley School of Public Health and Wendi Gosliner from the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, Nutrition Policy Institute. This research was published in BioMed Central Public Health and supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.