Nutrition Policy Institute researchers evaluated parent perception of neighborhood produce availability in a large study of over 5000 children between the ages of 4-15 years in more than 130 communities across the US. Results suggest that parents who reported higher neighborhood produce availability–having access to a large selection of produce, produce being high quality, and produce being easy to purchase–were more likely to report having fruits and vegetables available in their home. Children living in homes with higher reported produce availability had higher fruit and vegetable intake, which was also associated with lower rates of child obesity measured by body mass index. However, these relationships were weaker in children living in households experiencing poverty and food insecurity. This suggests that efforts to improve childhood obesity through optimizing neighborhood and home fruit and vegetable access may be less effective in neighborhoods and households experiencing high rates of poverty and food insecurity. The study–part of the Healthy Communities Study project funded by the National Institutes of Health to examine community impacts on child obesity–was published in October 2021 in the journal Nutrients. Authors include Laurel Moffatt of Washington State University Extension Youth and Families Program Unit, Lauren Au of UC Davis Department of Nutrition, and Nutrition Policy Institute researchers Lorrene Ritchie, Wendi Gosliner and Kaela Plank.

Childhood obesity rates increased during the global COVID-19 pandemic according to a study published in August in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Results of the study, which included electronic medical record data of 200,000 children ages 5 to 17 in Kaiser Permanente Southern California, were featured in an August 31, 2021 article in The Washington Post. Nutrition Policy Institute director and cooperative extension specialist Lorrene Ritchie was quoted in the article, “before the coronavirus, studies showed that students tended to gain weight during the summer when away from school. They tend to gain weight at an accelerated rate, then during the school year their body mass index goes down, but not as much, so over time kids are getting more and more overweight and obese.” Ritchie also stated that “regular summer weight gain among students is attributed to missing recess, P.E. and school sports, as well as not getting exercise associated with traveling to and from school. It is also because studies show that school meals are, on average, healthier than what children bring from home. Also, kids in school have access to breakfast and lunch; at home during the summer there is frequently unfettered access to food all day long.” Ritchie was further quoted that “companies selling junk food have had more access during the pandemic to market directly to children who spent more time on screens. What this has taught us is that our food environment is way out of line with what we need. Food companies are geared to getting us to eat as many calories as possible. And we are geared toward eating when food is available.”

Extensive efforts to review the evidence of childhood obesity prevention programs have been made by the scientific community. However, most meta-analyses have included only randomized, control trials, do not allow for examination of sub-components of interventions, and do not examine sub-populations that may be impacted (or not) by interventions. Lorrene Ritchie, director and cooperative extension specialist of the University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) Nutrition Policy Institute (NPI), collaborated with researchers from across the United States to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to fill these gaps. The systematic review and meta-analysis, and an accompanying paper describing the methods used to develop a taxonomy for childhood obesity interventions to use in the meta-analysis, were published in the journal Childhood Obesity. The review includes 51 studies evaluating 58 interventions that, overall, showed a lower BMI for preschool children participating in the interventions compared to children who did not receive interventions. The review and meta-analysis also suggest that the childhood obesity interventions that were most successful included engaging caregivers in praise/encouragement for positive health-related behavior; providing education about the importance of screen time reduction to caregivers; and engaging pediatricians and health care providers. The systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted in collaboration by Lori Scott-Sheldon, Larry Hedges, Chris Cyr, Deborah Young-Hyman, Mackenzie Magnus, Heather King, Sonia Arteaga, John Crawley, Christina Economos, Debra Hair-Joshu, Christine Hunter, Bruce Lee, Shiriki Kumanyika, Thomas Robinson and Marlene Schwartz. The taxonomy methods paper was written in collaboration by Heather King, Mackenzie Magnus, Larry Hedges, Deborah Young-Hyman, Laura Kettel Khan, Lori Scott-Sheldon, Jason Saul, Sonia Arteaga, John Cawley, Christina Economos, Debra Haire-Joshu, Christine Hunter, Bruce Lee, Shiriki Kumanyika, Thomas Robinson, and Marlen Schwartz.

Nutrition Policy Institute (NPI) researchers published a new study suggesting childhood obesity prevention programs are not associated with unhealthy dieting in children and may in fact improve children's satisfaction with their body weight. The study was published in Pediatric Obesity by lead author Colleen Plimier from the University of California (UC), Berkeley School of Public Health, along with co-authors Sridharshi Hewawitharana, Karen Webb, Lauren Au, and Lorrene Ritchie from NPI, and Dianne Neumark‐Sztainer from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. Study data were from 130 communities and over 5,000 children and their families from across the United States as part of the Healthy Communities Study, a six-year observational study funded by the National Institutes of Health.