The Nutrition Policy Institute was established 10 years ago to address the growing nutrition problems in the U.S., where 1 in 6 families lack consistent access to food and more suffer from a nutrition-related chronic condition than do not. Our talented team remains steadfast in our vision to ensure access to nutritious food, beverages and opportunities for physical activity for all through conducting and translating policy-relevant research. To mark our 10-year anniversary, we'd like to share some of our key achievements.
- School Meals for All - We have been dedicated to evaluating the impacts of every child, regardless of their background, having access to nutritious meals at school. Our efforts have helped to establish comprehensive school meal programs in our state. California became the first state in the nation to adopt school breakfast and lunch at no charge, providing access to better nutrition for over 6 million K-12 students annually.
- Enhancements to the WIC Program - We have worked to improve the accessibility and effectiveness of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children which provides food and nutrition counseling for low income pregnant women and children. By streamlining processes and expanding outreach, WIC services have improved. Over one million women and children receive WIC benefits annually in California – reaching nearly half of all children born in the state.
- Farm to Corrections Program - One of our innovative initiatives, involving the Farm to Corrections Program, connects correctional facilities with local farms, thus promoting more fresh fruits and vegetables for incarcerated individuals while supporting local agriculture. Within the next 2 years, all 33 of California's adult facilities will be enrolled in the Farm to Corrections Program.
We couldn't have achieved all this without our dedicated team, collaborators and funders. Special thanks also go to our past and current students, whose passion for positive change fuels our work. To continue this legacy, we established the NPI Student Fellowship in 2019 to increase diversity in the public health nutrition workforce and to honor our founding co-director, Pat Crawford. As we celebrate our 10th anniversary, we are pleased to announce a matching gift of up to $10,000 to support the NPI Student Fellowship. Any donation made between May and June 2024 will be doubled. A gift of any size will be appreciated and you can make your gift online. Your contribution will empower the next generation of nutrition research to policy leaders to continue our work toward healthier, more equitable communities. Read more about our impact over the last 10 years in this UC ANR news story—also available in Spanish—written by Mike Hsu. Watch this video in English or Spanish to learn about the history of the Fellowship and hear from students about their experiences.
The School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley was recently granted candidacy for accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics for their new Berkeley Public Health Dietetic Internship program. The program aims to create a new public health dietetic internship model that will prepare students to tackle adaptive changes from clinic to the community and from qualitative and quantitative to policy and food systems. The program is a two-year internship that currently accepts 10 interns annually during the fall who are admitted to the Master's in Public Health Nutrition at UC Berkeley. Students must have completed a Didactic Program in Dietetics to apply. The Nutrition Policy Institute will be a host organization for the program, and several NPI researchers—Lorrene Ritchie, Wendi Gosliner, Miranda Westfall, Suzanne Rauzon and Danielle Lee—serve on the program's advisory board. Applications to join the inaugural 2024 cohort are due December 4, 2023, at 8:59pm PST. Potential students are encouraged to attend the upcoming virtual and in-person open house informational sessions on November 14 and 16, 2023. For further questions, contact publichealthdi@berkeley.edu.
A recent study finds that comprehensive school-based Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education, also known as SNAP-Ed, interventions focused on improving wellness policies and increasing physical activity opportunities are associated with better student fitness. Researchers identified predominant combinations of school-based, physical activity-focused SNAP-Ed interventions and then looked at how they affected student fitness. Study data included over 442,000 fifth and seventh-grade students attending nearly 4,300 public schools in California communities with low-income in 2016-2017. Students in schools with SNAP-Ed interventions combining policy changes and improved physical activity opportunities had better cardiorespiratory fitness, as measured by VO2 max. On average, these students had 1.17 mL/kg/min greater VO2max than students at schools without interventions. They also had greater VO2 max compared to students in schools with any other type of intervention combination. This study suggests that focusing on both wellness policy changes and increased physical activity opportunities may have a synergistic effect and may warrant prioritization in SNAP-Ed program planning and implementation. The study, published in Preventive Medicine, was conducted by Nutrition Policy Institute researchers Sridharshi Hewawitharana, Gail Woodward-Lopez, Hannah Thompson, and Wendi Gosliner; Arizona State University researchers Punam Ohri-Vachaspati and Francesco Acciai; and California Department of Public Health researcher John Pugliese.
The Nutrition Policy Institute is seeking a part-time student communications fellow. The fellow will educate the public and NPI stakeholders through written, visual, and online communications about nutrition policy, food security, federal food programs, childhood obesity prevention and other nutrition and food policy issues. This communications strategy includes creating content for our social media channels, maintaining and updating our website, and creating and disseminating newsletters on our latest research and policy efforts. Fellowship eligibility requirements include being a registered undergraduate or graduate student at an accredited college or university with a plan to remain enrolled for the duration of the award period or be a recent postgraduate; be a US Citizen, Permanent Resident, F1 or J1 Visa holder, or California AB540 student; have a minimum 3.0 GPA; be proficient in Microsoft 365 programs (Word, Excel, etc.) or their equivalent Google Apps; and be a first-generation college student or an underrepresented minority student in good academic standing. This fellowship is a 10-month commitment of approximately 10 hours per week beginning in September or October 2023 and can be completed remotely. A $4,000 stipend will be provided. Learn more about the fellowship and how to apply online. Applications are due by Monday, September 11, 2023, 11:59 PM PT.
Some US state laws require schools to provide certified physical education, or PE, teachers and a minimum amount of PE to support students in achieving 60 minutes of daily physical activity. However, adherence to these laws is low, especially in elementary schools. For example, in New York City elementary schools, adherence was only 4% in 2015. Researchers evaluated the effectiveness of PE Works, a multi-level intervention aimed at supporting elementary schools in implementing physical education (PE) in New York City. PE Works included three evidence-based interventions: providing certified PE teachers, training classroom teachers to lead PE, and implementing an audit and feedback system with coaching delivered by district-level staff. The study found that PE Works is most successful when school districts prioritize support for higher-need schools first, tailor support based on individual school needs, increase the importance of PE at the district and school level, build strong relationships between district and school staff, and provide ongoing coaching and involve parents in advocating for quality PE. The research suggests promising practices for scaling up similar interventions in school districts nationwide. Results were published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity by Hannah Thompson, Kristine Madsen and Maya Zamek from the University of California, Berkeley, Thomas McKenzie from San Diego State University and David Dzewaltowski from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The research was funded by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, Grant 1K01HL151805.
