Nutrition Policy Institute (NPI) researchers' latest study of 680 licensed child care providers across California evaluating adherence to California's 2010 Healthy Beverages in Child Care Act (CA AB2084) suggests that nearly half were adherent to the policy in 2016, an increase from about one quarter shortly after the policy was implemented in 2012. The study was published in Preventing Chronic Disease. California's AB2084 policy requires licensed child care sites to (1) serve only lowfat or nonfat milk to children two years of age or older, (2) limit juice to not more than one serving per day of 100-percent juice, (3) serve no beverages with added sweeteners, either natural or artificial, and (4) make clean and safe drinking water readily available and accessible for consumption throughout the day. These requirements align with the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) nutrition standards. Providers participating in CACFP and child care centers were found to be more compliant than those not participating in CACFP and family child care homes, respectively. In 2016, providers were most adherent to the sugar-sweetened beverages (97%) and 100% juice (91%) requirements, while fewer were adherent to the requirements on drinking water (77%) and milk (65%). To support increased adherence to the beverage policy, NPI collaborated with Abbey Alkon from the UC San Francisco School of Nursing and California Childcare Health Program to develop a free online training in English and Spanish for California child care providers, funded by the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The statewide child care study was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Healthy Eating Research Program, and was conducted in collaboration with Elyse Homel Vitale of the Child Care Food Program Roundtable (previously with California Food Policy Advocates) and Sallie Yoshida of Social Policy Research Associates (previously with Sarah Samuels Center for Public Health Research & Evaluation).
Nutrition Policy Institute (NPI) researchers' latest study on the quality of beverages, meals and snacks served to young children in licensed child care settings in California suggests sites that participate in the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) are more likely to provide nutritious foods and beverages compared to sites that do not participate in CACFP. The study is available online ahead of print in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. The CACFP is a program of the United States Department of Agriculture that reimburses child care institutions and family child care home providers for providing nutritious meals and snacks to the children in their care aged birth up to twelve years old. The project was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Healthy Eating Research Program, and was conducted in collaboration with Elyse Homel Vitale of the Child Care Food Program Roundtable (previously with California Food Policy Advocates at the time of the study) and Sallie Yoshida of Social Policy Research Associates (previously with Sarah Samuels Center for Public Health Research & Evaluation.
Nutrition Policy Institute (NPI) and UC Berkeley School of Public Health researchers published a new study in partnership with the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) on the impact of a multi-component intervention to increase students' lunch participation in SFUSD public middle and high schools. The study, titled "The Impact of a Multipronged Intervention to Increase School Lunch Participation among Secondary School Students in an Urban Public School District" was published in Childhood Obesity by UC Berkeley researchers Hannah Thompson and Kristine Madsen; NPI's Wendi Gosliner and Lorrene Ritchie; UC Berkeley doctoral alumna Annie Reed; and SFUSD's Orla O'Keefe and Kate Wobbekind. Data are from a 3-year quasi-randomized study among 24 secondary schools, half of which received an intervention including cafeteria redesign, additional school lunch points-of-sale (mobile carts and vending machines), and teacher education. This research was funded by USDA's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program.
Nutrition Policy Institute's latest study in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior March 2020 issue suggests that schools across the U.S. adhered equally to the federal 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act school meal nutrition standards despite poverty level. The study was conducted using data collected in 2013-2015 from over 401 U.S. elementary and middle schools as part of the Healthy Communities Study. The study was lead by Lauren Au, NPI associate researcher, in collaboration with NPI researchers Lorrene Ritchie, Klara Gurzo, Marisa Tsai, Janice Kao, Wendi Gosliner and Patricia Guenther from the University of Utah Department of Nutrition and Integrative Physiology. Results from the study are available for free download until April 24, 2020.
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.
