The American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting and Expo is the largest yearly gathering of public health professionals. This year, the annual meeting is being held virtually October 24-28, 2020. Researchers from the University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Nutrition Policy Institute will be presenting their work on a variety of collaborative food and nutrition policy studies related to the child care food environment, school meals, the federal Supplemental Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), and more. A full list of on-demand poster presentations and live oral presentations is below.

Child care food environment: 

• California childcare centers and homes in the federal child and adult care food program offer more nutritious foods to infants
  Presenters: Danielle Lee, Klara Gurzo, Lilly Nhan, Elyse Homel Vitale, Sallie Yoshida, Lorrene Ritchie
  Poster presentation
  
  
• Online training increases child care provider knowledge of healthy beverage policy and practices for young children
  Presenters: Kaela Plank, Danielle Lee, Abbey Alkon, Marisa Neelon, L. Karina Diaz Rios, Katherine Soule, Lorrene Ritchie
  Poster presentation

School meals: 

• Impact of a district-wide chocolate milk removal policy on students' milk selection and consumption 
  Presenters: Hannah Thompson, Lorrene Ritchie, Kristine Madsen, Esther Park, Wendi Gosliner
  Oral presentation, Wednesday, October 28, 2020, 8:15-8:30 AM PDT

WIC: 

• Families with children 1-5 years old: WIC program perspectives on nutrition education and food benefits
  Presenters: Marisa Tsai, Lorrene Ritchie, Shannon Whaley, Catherine Martinez, Martha Meza, Lauren Au, Hallie Randel-Schreiber, Susan Sabatier
  Oral presentation, Wednesday, October 28, 2020, 8:00-8:15 AM PDT
  
  
• Children on WIC followed through age 4 years: What are they eating?
  Presenters: Lorrene Ritchie, Lauren Au, Shannon Whaley, Christine Borger
  Oral presentation, Wednesday, October 28, 2020, 9:30-9:50 AM PDT
  
  
• Feeding beliefs and practices among low-income caregivers: Findings from year 4 of the WIC infant and toddler feeding practices study-2
  Presenters: Courtney Paolicelli, Christine Borger, Lorrene Ritchie, Shannon Whaley
  Oral presentation, Wednesday, October 28, 2020, 9:50-10:10 AM PDT

• Prevalence of overweight and obesity among children receiving WIC
  Presenters: Christine Borger, Shannon Whaley, Lorrene Ritchie
  Oral presentation, Wednesday, October 28, 2020, 10:10-10:30 AM PDT
  
  
• Longer participation in WIC is associated with healthier outcomes for children at age 4 years
  Presenters: Shannon Whaley, Christine Borger, Lauren Au, Lorrene Ritchie
  Oral presentation, Wednesday, October 28, 2020, 10:30-10:50 AM PDT

Other topics: 

• Exploring housing and food insecurity among California university students: A holistic and comprehensive definition of students' basic needs
  Presenters: Suzanna Martinez, Erin Esaryk, Laurel Moffat, Lorrene Ritchie
  Oral presentation, Tuesday, October 27, 12:00-12:15 PM PDT
  
  
• Healthy default beverages in kids' meals: Evaluating policy implementation and impact in California and Delaware
  Presenters: Allison Karpyn, Wendi Gosliner, Laura Lessard, Kathleen McCallops, Marisa Tsai, Tara Tracy, Phoebe Harpainter, Danielle Lee, Anna Martin, Lorrene Ritchie, Gail Woodward-Lopez
  Oral presentation, Tuesday, October 27, 4:45-5:00 PM PDT
  
  
• Perceived produce availability and child fruit and vegetable intake: The healthy communities study
  Presenters: Laurel Moffat, Lorrene Ritchie, Wendi Gosliner, Kaela Plank, Lauren Au
  Oral presentation, Wednesday, October 28, 2020, 10:15-10:30 AM PDT
  
  
• Limited progress found in healthy checkout among food stores in economically disadvantaged California neighborhoods, 2011-2017
  Presenters: Wendi Gosliner, Sriddharshi Hewawitharana, Janice Kao, Sadie Costello, Gail Woodward-Lopez
  Poster presentation
  
  
• A replication study of school-based SNAP-ed programmatic efforts to address student nutrition and physical activity outcomes
  Presenters: John Pugliese, Lauren Whetstone, Sridharshi Hewawitharana, Gail Woodward-Lopez
  Poster presentation
  

Children in child care can consume up to two-thirds of their daily nutrition in these settings, and healthy feeding practices and obesity prevention efforts in childcare can support childrens' health later in life. Lorrene Ritchie, director of the Nutrition Policy Institute and University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) specialist, is a leading expert in the field of infant and toddler feeding. Ritchie presented findings on transitional feeding practices for infants in child care – with a focus on family child care home settings – to attendees of the 95th Nestlé Nutrition Institute Workshop - Building Future Health and well-being of thriving toddlers and young children. The workshop was hosted virtually September 14-16, 2020. Ritchie's presentation was titled “Transition from breastfeeding and complementary feeding to toddler nutrition in childcare settings.” Ritchie shared findings from collaborative research on infant and child nutrition and feeding practice standards for child care providers with NPI researcher Danielle Lee, Lauren Au of the University of California, Davis, and Elyse Homel Vitale of the Childcare Food Program Roundtable. A recording of Ritchie's presentation is available for viewing online.

Nutrition Policy Institute's Lorrene Ritchie, director and University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) specialist, has been studying the diet quality of low-income children enrolled in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). This research is part of the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) WIC Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study (WIC ITFPS-2), also known as the "Feeding My Baby" study. Ritchie and her research colleagues Christine Borger of Westat, Inc., Courtney Paolicelli of the USDA Food and Nutrition Services, and Shannon Whaley of Public Health Foundation Enterprise WIC, presented the latest findings from children enrolled in WIC at age four years during the virtual  National WIC Association Nutrition Education and Breastfeeding Promotion Annual Conference on September 10, 2020. Their presentation was titled, “Now we are four! Findings at age four from the WIC Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study (WIC ITFPS-2)."

Nutrition Policy Institute (NPI) director and cooperative extension specialist Lorrene Ritchie presented new information on the challenges faced by California families with young children that participate in the USDA Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The presentation, titled "WIC Participation: Why do Families Stay and What has Changed During COVID-19?" was part of the California WIC Association and California WIC program's annual conference and trade show, which was held virtually on Friday August 28, 2020. Ritchie co-presented with collaborators Susan Sabatier at the California Department of Public Health and Shannon Whaley at the Public Health Foundation Enterprise (PHFE) WIC. They shared data from three studies: a state wide survey of WIC participants completed in 2019 prior to the pandemic as well as preliminary data from interviews and surveys with WIC families in Los Angeles County being completed this year. Funding for NPI's work was provided by The David & Lucille Packard Foundation and the California Department of Public Health.