The prevalence of obese children has tripled during the past three decades. While lack of physical activity and unhealthy eating have been the primary focus of public health efforts, media has a significant influence on food choices and food consumption. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine if a media literacy intervention would…

Purpose/Objectives: This study investigates the effect of meal component changes by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA) on school lunch quality and consumption in elementary school students, grade 2-5 before and after the HHFKA guidelines were implemented in July 2012 using the Healthy Eating Index. Methods: In Spring 2012, before…

Purpose/Objectives: Increasing children's fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption is an important goal for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). In 2012 the NSLP began requiring students to select a FV. The objective of this study was to compare children's FV choices in two school cafeteria environments a year before these new USDA regulations…

Background: The rate of childhood obesity has more than tripled during the past 30?years. Research shows that prevention at an early age is more effective than treatment later in life. Energize is a multicomponent intervention incorporated into the school day that combines nutrition education and physical activity aimed at maintaining healthy…

Background. High overweight and obesity prevalence has instigated many programs to improve children's health. Farm to School (F2S) is a grassroots-organized program that seeks to improve children's dietary habits, especially fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption, through various educational activities. Long-term goals include reducing obesity…

Background: Unhealthy lifestyles during childhood constitute a public health problem in Japan. However, current health education in Japan is ineffective in counteracting them. Previous studies contend that healthy lifestyles in children vary by academic grade and sex. This study examined changes throughout childhood suggests some intervention…

Background: Over the last 3 decades, US obesity rates have increased dramatically as more children and more adults become obese. This study explores an innovative program, Active Generations, an intergenerational nutrition education and activity program implemented in out-of-school environments (after school and summer camps). It utilizes older…

Improving children's nutrition and physical activity have become priorities in the United States. This quasi-experimental study evaluated the longitudinal effects of a 3-year, school-based, health promotion intervention (i.e. nutrition and physical education, classroom physical activity, professional development and health promotion for teachers…

Given the recent rise in childhood obesity, the School Breakfast Program (SBP) and National School Lunch Program (NSLP) have received renewed attention. Using panel data on more than 13,500 primary school students, we assess the relationship between SBP and NSLP participation and (relatively) long-run measures of child weight. After documenting a…

Previous studies have shown that active consent procedures result in sampling bias in surveys dealing with adolescent risk behaviors such as cigarette smoking and illicit drug use. To examine sampling bias from active consent procedures when the survey topic pertains to childhood obesity and associated health behaviors, the authors pair data…

Background: Despite the growing number of school-based interventions designed to reduce childhood obesity or otherwise promote health, no models or materials were found for Jewish schools. The current study describes an effort within a Jewish school system in Chicago to create, implement, and evaluate a school-based intervention tailored to the…

Rates of childhood overweight have reached epidemic proportions (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001), and schools have been called on to play a role in the prevention of this medical condition. This article describes a multiyear health promotion effort--the Athletes in Service fruit and vegetable (F&V) promotion program--which…