The Active and Healthy School Program (AHS) can be used to alter the culture and environment of a school to help children make healthier choices. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of AHS to increase physical activity while decreasing total screen time, increase healthy food choices, and improve knowledge about physical…

Purpose/Objectives: The new nutrition standards for the school meal programs implemented in 2012 align the school meal patterns with the US Dietary Guidelines for Americans, including more fruit, vegetable and whole grain offerings and minimum and maximum amount of calories per meal averaged over a week. The purpose of this study was to assess…

Objective: To evaluate the short-term outcome of the social marketing approach used in Project FIT, we developed a school- and community-based programme for promoting healthful eating and physical activity in kindergarten to 5th-grade children and their parents. Design: A 2-year quasi-experiment for children and two cross-sectional surveys for…

Background: Identifying lifestyle factors such as physical activity (PA) patterns and eating behaviors of children may be beneficial in implementing interventions in urban elementary schools. Purpose: To examine PA levels and self-efficacy (SE) in PA and health eating (HE) of third, fourth, and fifth graders in 3 low economic elementary schools in…

School-based childhood obesity prevention programs have grown in response to reductions in child physical activity (PA), increased sedentariness, poor diet, and soaring child obesity rates. Multiple systematic reviews indicate school-based obesity prevention/treatment interventions are effective, yet few studies have examined the school nurse role…

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…

Objectives: Recent dietary guidance recommends that children consume at least three servings of whole-grains daily. This study examined whether white whole-wheat (WWW) flour can be partially substituted for refined-wheat (RW) flour in pizza crust without affecting consumption by children in a school cafeteria. Methods: Subjects included first to…

Objectives: The purpose of this pilot project was to evaluate the effect of the Improving Children's Health through Farming, Food, and Fitness Program (CHF3) on the dietary knowledge and habits of participating children. Methods: The CHF3 program aims to 1) establish salad bars and integrate nutrition messages into cafeteria activities; 2) develop…