The COVID-19 pandemic has influenced many aspects of life and wellbeing. Eating behaviors and food habits among college students--many leaving campus and returning home mid-semester--were of particular interest for this qualitative study. Reflections from 33 students across 3 courses were analyzed using content analysis. Five major themes emerged…

Purpose/Objectives: Recent US Department of Agriculture regulations increased the amount and variety of vegetables required for school lunches. Vegetables are the most wasted components of lunch while entrées are selected and consumed by the majority of children. This study examined how adding vegetable purée to an elementary school lunch entrée…

Objective: To compare the diets of African American and Hispanic families in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) prior to the 2009 food package revisions. Methods: Mother-child dyads were recruited from 12 WIC sites in Chicago, IL. Individuals with 1 valid 24-hour recall were included in the analyses…

African American (AA) girls aged 10-12 living in urban communities designated as food deserts have a significantly greater prevalence of overweight and obesity than girls that age in the general population. The purpose of our study was (a) to examine the agreement in nutritional intake between AA girls aged 10-12 and their mothers and (b) to…

Grandparents University ® (GPU) is a 2-day campus-based nutrition education program for grandparents and grandchildren based on constructs from Social Cognitive Theory and the Theory of Planned Behavior. This article describes how program theory was used to develop a working model, design activities, and select outcome measures of a 2-day…

Environmental issues can serve as a marvelous framework for high-level student analysis of critical scientific and social concerns. We describe a series of activities and discussions that motivate students to explore environmentalism, sustainable development, carbon offsets, and related ideas with an engaged learning format that helps students to…

The latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) identify 34% of American adults as obese and another 33% as overweight. Since children tend to mimic adult behavior, adults not only hurt themselves when they practice poor eating and exercise habits, they also hurt their children. With only one-third of adults modeling…

Objective: To develop and test nutrition messages and supporting content with low-income mothers for use with theory-based interventions addressing fruit and vegetable consumption and child-feeding practices. Design: Six formative and 6 evaluative focus groups explored message concepts and tested messages, respectively. Setting: Research…

Asthma is the most prevalent chronic illness in childhood affecting 7 million youth. Many youth with asthma face another risk factor in obesity. Obesity, in turn, increases disorders such as asthma. Studies have recommended that asthma programs also address weight management in youth. Taking this into consideration, the I Can Control Asthma and…

This study's objective was to examine whether five child health-promoting behaviors by caregivers would be associated with caregivers' assessments of their children's health as "excellent," controlling for an array of risk factors for adverse health outcomes. The study used the third and fourth waves of the Illinois Families Study-Child…

Healthful eating and regular physical activity are vitally important for low-income adolescents who are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes (T2DM). To design a relevant, community-based intervention for these at risk adolescents, parent perceptions of barriers to healthful eating and physical activity should be assessed. Such barriers have been…

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…

This article summarizes the efforts of legislators in studying up on what they might do to affect how well kids learn after the summer break. Some of the legislators' work leaned toward improving students' health, while some targeted dropouts or civic education. Most of the capitol-dome work appears to have matched the typical garden: a few…

A study attempted to assess the nutrition knowledge of children in kindergarten through the sixth grade. Knowledge of seven broad concepts in nutrition was tested using the Nutrition Achievement Test. Results of the study indicated a widespread ignorance of nutrition on the part of school age youth. (JN)