Purpose/Objectives: School lunch meals often provide students with the majority of daily calories and prime opportunities to develop healthful eating habits. Plant-based entrées may increase variety of foods served and appeal to students, but may not appear frequently on school menus. A Washington, D.C.-based school partnered with local…

Out-of-school time (OST) programs serve youth from diverse demographic backgrounds. OST programs, whose informal settings provide opportunities for experiential learning, can address this problem by implementing nutrition and food-preparation programming to improve participants' dietary knowledge and behaviors. In this article, the authors…

Childhood obesity is emerging as a considerable public health problem with no clear antidote. The school food environment is a potential intervention point for policy makers, with competitive food and beverage regulation as a possible policy lever. This research examines the link between competitive food and beverage availability in school and…

Background: To enhance the impact of school nutrition programs on children's health, more information is needed on the associations between healthy and unhealthy food offerings during school lunch periods and children's eating behavior. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the contributions of food offerings and participation in school lunch…

Background: This study tested the feasibility and acceptability of adding a reimbursable snack that meets the Institute of Medicine nutrition recommendations to an afterschool homework program for middle school students. Methods: Snack menu was developed and administered to students attending an afterschool homework program over 12 weeks. In…

Purpose/Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of coordinated in-classroom education and taste-testing activities on fruit and vegetable acceptance in a state-wide sample of third through sixth grade children. Methods: Two taste-testing sessions were a part of six nutrition lessons that were implemented in nine elementary…

Background: School-based interventions hold promise for child obesity prevention. Implemented as a part of the "Winning with Wellness" obesity prevention project, the "Go Slow Whoa" meal pattern (GSW) was designed to promote healthier foods in school cafeterias. This investigation determined perceived program effectiveness and…

Purpose/Objectives: In 2010, a large urban school district implemented a district-wide school wellness policy that addressed childhood obesity by requiring schools to increase health and physical education contact hours for students and to improve the nutritional standards of school meals. Schools were required to serve a different fruit and…

Purpose/Objectives: The purpose of the investigation was to determine the effects of visible cheese on selection and consumption of food groups to encourage (FGTE) in middle school students. Methods: Study 1 was conducted in three middle schools with 145 students (Boys=67, Girls=78, 30% minorities). The regular monthly menus were altered to…