- 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.
Nutrition Policy Institute researchers were awarded a $199,786 grant from the California Collaborative for Pandemic Recovery and Readiness Research Program, also known as CPR3. The grant funds a collaborative project with NPI principal investigator Lorrene Ritchie, co-principal investigator Susana Matias from the University of California, Berkeley and the CACFP Roundtable. The project, “Child and Adult Care Food Program: Impacts of COVID-19 Changes to Meal and Snack Reimbursement Rates on Family Childcare Home Providers, Children and Families – Phase 2”, builds on a current project to understand the impact of COVID-19 changes to CACFP reimbursement rates for family child care homes on CACFP participation, food quality, and food security. The one-year project began on July 1, 2023 and includes Kassandra Bacon as project manager, Celeste Felix as data analyst, Reka Vasicsek as research coordinator, Meirong Liao as Administrative Coordinator, Hannah Thompson as statistical consultant, and Ken Hecht as policy advisor. A goal of the CPR3 Program is to generate policy-relevant evidence to improve the health and well-being of California residents in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CPR3 Program is funded by the California Department of Public Health. California Department of Public Health will not be involved in study design, data collection, data analysis and interpretation, manuscript development, or the decision to publish.
Kassandra Bacon joined the Nutrition Policy Institute staff as a project policy analyst on October 12, 2022. Kassandra attended the UC Berkeley School of Public Health where she earned her MPH with a concentration in Public Health Nutrition and Graduate Certificate in Food Systems. During her academic journey, she contributed to several research projects pertaining to sustainable food systems, program evaluation, and improvement to public nutrition policy. Additionally, her experience includes program coordination and evaluation, data analysis, and development of communication materials to advance equity-based public health solutions. Kassandra brings her knowledge and experience to the NPI, where she will continue to support public health nutrition through policy and program evaluation. She will work on projects related to nutrition and increasing consumption of drinking water and in childcare and universal school meals.